You and I
by EbonyMage
Summary: In a world where Wormtail was discovered as a traitor and the Malfoy’s are fierce opposers of Darkness, Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy find themselves battling for the greatest glory of all. The glory of love. [HD Slash, Mpreg]---(better summary inside)
1. Smile, Kiss, Sigh

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Title: You and I 

Author: Mage

Rating: R 

Category/ies: AU, romance, slash, angst and fantasy . 

Warning: May containsexual context, adult themes and vulgar language. WILL contain SLASH and Mpreg.

Pairings: Harry/Draco

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Set during: Sixth year. They are sixteen.

Summary: In a world were Wormtail was discovered as a traitor, where the Potter's were never martyred and the Malfoy's fierce opposers of Darkness. Here in this world were there was never a Boy Who Lived, Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy find themselves battling for the greatest glory of all. The glory of love.

Against all odds they must learn to rely on each other as they walk down a path leading to pasts long forgotten and discover who it is they are inside. On a journey shrouded in darkness and uncertainty they learn that destiny has a price and that only fate can show you the way

Declaimer: All Harry Potter characters, settings, etc., belong to JK Rowling and various publishers, studios and so on. I am merely playing around in her universe and borrowing her characters and settings. However, original materials such as the plot, originals charters, and concepts belong to me. Any similarity to ones fiction is purely coincidental. It is only very recently that I have discovered the HP fandom community and I have not read many fanfiction, so similarities are not intentional. 

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Authors voice: This story is an AU so it is set in it's own universe. However, it does flow along the same time lines as the books and movies. This is set in a world which could have come about had the Potter's realised the traitor in Wormtail and the Malfoy's are not minions of Voldemort. 

This story is a first of many. It is a prologue so to say of a series of stories that will come latter. It can be seen as a stand still. I warn that while this first fic is a romance the series that it is part of will contain strong fantasy/supernatural themes. That means that this fiction will introduce those very concepts. 

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PROLOGUE: _Smile, Kiss, Sigh _

Blazing emerald met steely silver as two figures gazed at each other before a towering gargoyle statue.  
  
"It will all be okay. Just breathe."  
  
A smile.  
  
A chaste kiss.  
  
A sigh.  
  
"Whatever we face. We'll face it with all our faith. All our faith in each other and what we have."  
  
A sigh.  
  
A desperate kiss.  
  
A smile.  


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Additional declaimer: 

The line "Just Breathe." Is taken from the movie _Ever After_. Beautiful tale. 


	2. Of Blazing Emerald and Steely Silver

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Title: You and I 

Author: Mage

Rating: R

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CHAPTER ONE: _Of Blazing Emerald and Steely Silver_

The elderly man was rarely tense, rarely showed discomfort or apprehension, yet as he sat gazing into four pairs of hostile eyes he felt like running.  
  
His sparkling blue gaze swept the room, coming to rest on a pair of jade eyes that were blazing with emerald fire, conveying a burning fury that could incinerate steel. And at that moment the eyes were directed at him. 

"I hope you have a good explanation for this Professor."  
  
"And by explanation, we do not want an elaborate _excuse_." 

The cold steely voice sliced through whatever else could have been said, diverting the old man's gaze to a pair of silver orbs.  
  
The man resisted the urge to flinch away as he saw the cold fury in those silvery depths. Unlike the jade gaze that burned with fire, these eyes held in their depths a coldness that could turn a desert into an eternal winter.  
  
"Lay off him, Malfoy. Albus has a reason for everything he does."  
  
Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, nearly sighed in relief as those words were spoken. He glanced at the glaring hazel eyes and breathed an internal sigh of thanks that the anger in those orbs was not directed at him, but clashing with silver.  
  
"Do not tell me to leave him be when your wife was the one that began the demands, Potter," Malfoy sneered.  
  
"You were the one that was threatening him," Potter spat back.  
  
"'Threatening'? I was merely telling him to give a proper explanation and not a damn excuse for once. My words held not a grain of a threat."  
  
"Have you never heard of an unspoken threat, Malfoy?"  
  
"Believe me Potter, if I was going to make a threat, even someone as ignorant and fatuous as you would know when I'm doing it. A Malfoy does not waste their time beating around the bush."  
  
Malfoy and Potter stood in the middle of the office looking as though they were ready to beat the other into a bloody pulp and still not be satisfied.  
  
As if foreseeing that very thing from happening, a firm voice broke through the argument. "Would you two please leave it be. We have neither the time nor the patience for petty childish bickering and finger pointing."  
  
Albus could not help but smile at the delicate, willowy, blue eyed figure that sat before his desk. 

__

'Ever the level headed Ravenclaw, young Black', Albus thought. 

Out loud he said, "That is correct. There is no need for fighting. All will be explained in due time."  
  
Albus looked around the room, capturing the gazes of its four occupants. Silver eyes still held the cold fury that could make even him flinch; dark blue gaze held his with a steady calm that he knew belied a frightening temper of their own; an emerald pair looked into his eyes with a fierce defiance and a promise of repercussions if he did not explain his part; and then there was that hazel gaze, that even after all this time still held in their depth a sense of the legendary Gryffindor loyalty unlike any he had ever seen before.  
  
Yet he knew that he should not let that calming gaze pacify him, for this was the gaze that would later hold within it the most amount of fury when all was said and done. Albus internally sighed. The thing about Gryffindor's was that even with all their nobility, with all their honor and loyalty, they were perhaps the most close minded of the four houses. They believed in their beliefs and they believed absolutely. They left little room for anything else. 

__

'Well there are some Gryffindor exceptions.' Albus had to smile at that thought. _'Yes there were some Gryffindor's that are the exceptions of their house. Which brings us all here today…'  
_  
Suddenly the office doors swung open, the soft creak of the heavy wood sounding louder then it would normally have in the quiet room. 

  
_'Speaking of exceptions…' _

"Ah, Young Mr. Potter. Young Mr. Malfoy. Finally you have arrived. We can now begin."


	3. Deeper Then Friends

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Title: You and I 

Author: Mage

Rating: R

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CHAPTER TWO: **_Deeper Then Friends_**

The tall figure of Harry Potter stood before the headmaster's door, looking nervous and apprehensive. His brilliant emerald eyes swept through the room in one quick motion, pausing momentarily at a jade eyed woman sitting on one of two chairs before the headmaster's desk, then moving on to the hazel eyed man standing behind her.  
  
He held their gazes for a moment and nodded respectfully to each in turn.  
  
"Please Harry, Draco. Come in," Albus offered, smiling at the two youths.  
  
Draco Malfoy stepped out from behind Harry and entered the room, conveying not a single flicker of the apprehension clearly shining in the eyes of his Gryffindor counterpart. The petite Slytherin walked straight through the room towards the silver eyed man, standing behind the blue eyed woman, who was sitting stiffly before the headmaster.  
  
"Mother. Father," he greeted plainly.  
  
The dark eyed women gazed up at him. 

"Son," she said softly, not stopping the small smile that broke forth at the sight of her young son.  
  
The shaky smile that Draco offered was the first indication that he was as nervous as the emerald eyed Gryffindor, who had still yet to move from his place by the door. Draco tilted his head, looking at his tall father from the corner of his eye.  
  
"Draco." The older Malfoy said as a way of greeting.  
  
Before any more can be said and any more greetings done, the soft voice of Albus Dumbledore traveled through the room. 

"Now that the two gentlemen are here, we can begin sorting through this, and your questions can finally be answered. Now, please, I implore that you approach this with open minds and hearts. And remember that you, too, were once sixteen."  
  
The voice of Albus Dumbledore brought the attention of the four adults in the room away from the two nervous youths. When Albus finished his speech, they looked back at the two young men.  
  
Draco had walked back to Harry's side.  
  
James Potter, Lily Evens Potter, Lucius Malfoy, and Narcissa Black Malfoy were treated with the sight of the two figures, of their sons, standing before each other and gazing into one another's eyes. Harry was looking down at the delicate blond before him, and they watched as his lips parted to form barley heard words. 

"It will all be okay. Just breathe."  
  
Draco smiled up at the Gryffindor in turn; bring a slender hand forth to brush an ebony strand away from emerald eyes.  
  
"Draco!" 

The two boys jumped at the sudden bellow that had broken the moment between them.  
  
Lucius Malfoy marched towards his son, grabbed him by the arm, and dragged him away from the door.  
  
Away from Harry.  
  
"Father! You're hurting me!"  
  
A flash of concern momentarily broke through the cold glacier of Lucius Malfoy's eyes, and he dropped his son's arm.  
  
Draco rubbed his throbbing arm, looking up at his father fearfully. At times, his father didn't know his own strength.  
  
Regret melted Lucius' eyes, and he reached forward to assess the damage he had done. But before he could, Harry Potter had sprung forward, after getting over his passing shock. Upon reaching the blond he took him in a one armed hug and checked the damage of Lucius' temper with the other.  
  
"It's nothing Harry. He just grabbed me a little hard," Draco whispered weakly.  
  
Before Harry could reply, his own father marched over to him. 

"Harrison Potter," he hissed. "What the hell do you think your doing? That's a Malfoy   
in your arms."  
  
Whatever Harry's response would have been was lost as the voice of Albus Dumbledore once again filled the room. 

"Please James take a set. You too, Lucius. We can not begin this if you all insist on being irrational and temperamental. We will undertake this explanation with the greatest calm and order that as adults we are capable of managing."  
  
James and Lucius turned to look at the headmaster as they were addressed. Reluctantly they brought out their wands and spelled a chair next to each of their wives, so they could all sit down.  
  
"Now, Harry and Draco. Would you two also like to take a seat?"  
  
Harry glanced at the blond he still held in his arms and answered for both of them, "No, that's all right Professor. We will remain standing."  
  
"Very well."  
  
A tense silence filled room for a couple of moments, until the voice of Lilly Evans Potter filled the room. 

"I think now we should have the explanation we were looking for," she said, gazing at the figures of her son and the young Malfoy heir in his arms. "And it seems, Albus, that this," gesturing to the two boys, "only brings forth more demands for explanations."  
  
"Mum-"  
  
Lily Potter put up a hand to silence her son and kept her attention on the headmaster. 

"We heard that you're putting our son at risk by rooming him with a Slytherin. And a Malfoy at that. Now, we come here and see this," Lily hissed. "What have you done now, Albus? Is this another one of your foolish schemes? What spell did you cast on them? What circumstances did you force them into?"  
  
"Lily, please stop." James Potter tried to pacify his angry wife. "I'm sure it was not Albus who cast some spell. It was most likely that Malfoy boy."  
  
"My son would do no such thing!" The calm facade of Narcissa Black Malfoy was broken by the accusation placed upon her son, and she was now on her feet, glaring down at the two Potter's. "If anyone's under a spell it would be Draco and the caster, your son!"  
  
"How dare you say such a thing! It is well known that Malfoy's are all evil. You all probably plotted this to get close to our son. What was your goal Malfoy? To have our son loose credibility or just to do him in all together?" James sneered.  
  
Lucius shot to his feet upon hearing the slander on his family. "How dare we? How dare you! You have no right to call us evil, Potter. We are no more evil then you are. We do not hide behind carefully placed facades built to fool the foolish! You may pretend to be all good and holy, but you are all as conniving and power hungry as Voldemort."  
  
"Don't you dare compare us to Voldemort!" yelled Lily. "We are nothing like him. You are the one known for groveling at his feet."  
  
"A Malfoy bows down to no one," Lucius stated fiercely. "We are our own masters. Our family declined Voldemort the first time. He had to result to powerful ancient magic to get us to serve him. And even then we rejected his hold on us."  
  
"I bet you're just saying that," James sneered. "Voldemort most likely sent you as a spy amongst our midst."  
  
Albus Dumbledore saw the dangerous gleam in the eyes of Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy, and quickly decided to intervene. 

"Please. Would everyone please calm down? We are here to discuss your children, not to question loyalties."  
  
Gradually the four bickering adults calmed down and turned their focus onto their sons once more. The two were still standing in the same place, but this time both looking at their parents in a mix of fear and anger as a result of what they had just witnessed. Like many others in the wizarding world, they were fully aware of their families' hatred for each other, and had even participated on fuelling that hatred in their early youths. Yet neither had seen it demonstrated by the adults. Neither had really known how deep that hatred ran. As children, to them it was but a game. In a way they had been sheltered by their parents. Seeing it now left the boys visibly shaken, and they clasped each other's hand tightly for support.  
  
Their joined hands did not go unnoticed by their fathers, and if the voice of Albus Dumbledore had not sounded, there would have been a repeat of earlier arguments.  
  
"Boys, you may now begin."  
  
"Thank you sir." This time it was the voice of Draco Malfoy that answered him. "I know that you are all here today because you heard that Harry and I are sharing a room. Well that stupid rumor is wrong. I'm still in my old prefect room and Harry still lives up in Gryffindor tower. It is just that sometimes we like to keep each other company. We're friends now."  
  
James's face contorted into a scowl and he made to comment, but before he could slip in a word, Draco continued. 

"Mr. and Mrs. Potter, I know what you're thinking. That I'm a danger to your son. That I'm only befriending him to gain his trust, to betray him to the dark. But you have to realize that I will do no such thing. I'll die before I become one of Voldemorte's little slaves," he stated fiercely. 

Draco then turned to his parents. "And mother, father, Harry is no more a danger to me, than I am to him." 

The boy looked around at the adults. He had his Malfoy mask firmly in place, yet his expressive eyes showed uncertainty, anger, and something else. Another emotion that seemed foreign in the eyes of one so young. Yet it was there, shinning with that spark of defiance that was constant light in Draco's eyes.  
  
"Friends?" Narcissa gasped. "But you hate each other."  
  
"No, mother. We've put that childish rivalry behind us. Even though at times we still drive each other crazy," Draco said, glancing up at Harry with a small teasing smile. "We are no longer enemies."  
  
"So you're really friends?" asked James.  
  
"Yes, sir"  
  
The tension in the room seemed to dwindle, as the worst case scenario brought about by the earlier interaction of the two boys, was destroyed by those words.  
  
"Yes, we are friends. Friendship is, after all, a strengthening element in a relationship."  
  
Harry's softly spoken words broke through the adult's brief gratification and their heads shot up to look at the ebony haired Gryffindor.  
  
"What do you mean by 'relationship'?" Lucius asked cautiously.  
  
"Whatever one means by a relationship between two people that are in love with one another."  
  
"You see father, Harry and I are together."  


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Dedication: 

This chapter is dedicated to **Anya Malfoy**. My first reviewer! 

Thanks for showing interest. This little fic is my lab project and my experimental dip into the fanfiction world. I'm a little scared about this dip, but you have given me a little bit more courage so THANKS!! 

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Silver*Scorpian*Wolf*Girl – I'm glad you found this interesting and to your liking. Don't worry this will be continued. I've finalised what's going to happen now. I've changed it a bit, but I think this new upcoming plot it better. Thanks for your review. I was jumping from joy! Hehe… 


	4. Tears of a Dragon

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Title: You and I 

Author: Mage

Rating: R

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Authors reminder: This story is very AU. Please read the summary to show you the world this is set in. It is vital to remember that these characters personalities will be different from the cannon characters. This is because their life experiences, and the people that have influenced their lives, are different in some way. I have kept their deeper personalty traits in tact, but they _have_ changed. 

Please feel free to ask questions about characters histories and background details. You can even ask me about how individual characters are the way they are. I have sorted out most of that information and if giving you this information does not compromise this story, and other stories I am going to write that connects to this, then I will give you that information. 

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CHAPTER THREE: _Tears of a Dragon_

The words hung in the air for a moment, bringing a silence so deep that time itself seemed to be holding its breath.  
  
Then, in a flash, it was broken. And all hell broke lose.  
  
"'Together.'"  
  
"Harry, what the hell is the meaning of this?!"  
  
"As in a couple?!"  
  
"Draco, how could you? He is a self righteous little Gryffindor brat!"  
  
"What are you thinking? His family is immersed in the dark arts!"  


"A Malfoy does not partner with a Potter!"  
  
"You are embarrassing our family!"  
  
"You bring shame to our name!"  
  
The deep male voices of their fathers echoed through the room together, as the last two statements were spoken during a pause in the adults' ranting.  
  
Harry just stared at his father, not knowing what to say to the man, and for the first time he felt that he truly didn't know him. It was as if the loving and understanding father he had grown up knowing was nothing but a fragment of a dream, and the man's promise that he would love him, be proud of him, and support him in everything in life, was nothing but a lie.  
  
But then again, that promise was made long ago, in a time before his parents were agents in the Order of the Phoenix, in a time where they did not live with horrors so that others would not have to. In a time where they were not cold and distant. Not mere shells of their former selves.  
  
Over the years, Harry had grown distant with them, until it became awkward to even greet them in ways many children would greet their parents.  
  
Draco, on the other hand, paled at his father's words, slightly shaking at the anger and disappointment he heard in his father's voice. Unlike Harry, whose family had drifted apart during his early years in Hogwarts, he was very close to his. His father had shown nothing but support to his young son, always whispering words of comfort when he was sad, and was always there to pick him up when he fell. And now here he was calling him a disappointment, looking at him with an anger that he had never seen turned to him before. He knew Lucius had a temper, but he had never seen his eyes so cold.  
  
"Father…"  
  
"Don't 'Father' me. Right now, Draco, I don't even recognize you. I thought I knew you. But it seems that I don't."  
  
Draco looked at his father in shock. They had always been close. At times seeming more like friends then a parent and child. 

"Father, you do know me. I haven't changed. I'm still who I have always been."  
  
"Is that so? Then how is it I had no idea that you even liked the Potter boy, let alone harbored feelings for him? How long have you even been in this relationship? How long have you lied to me?"  
  
"Since the end of fourth year," came Draco's weak reply.

  
"A little less then two years…" Lucius whispered mostly to himself. "You have been lying to me for almost TWO YEARS!"  
  
"Father, please, it was not that long! We were going to tell you eventually."  
  
"When?! When we hear a whisper that you're sharing rooms with the Gryffindor brat! After you could no longer hide and lie about your shameful relationship with that boy? After your engagement to Pansy was finally set? Or were you going to wait until the Daily Prophet got hold of this while you were married to Pansy and had given me an heir? Were you going to wait till the Daily Prophet splashed the news that you were whoring yourself to a _Gryffindor_!"  
  
"Father that is not how it would have been!" Draco cried.  
  
"'Not how it would have been?' Draco, that is how it already is," Lucius said fiercely. "You lied."  
  
"I-I-"  
  
"No more excuses Draco. No more lies," Lucius said, looking suddenly more tired and older then his forty-one years. "He is using you. And you have willingly gone and given yourself over to him."  
  
"Father, I love him!" At this time Draco was close to tears.  
  
"'Love him'?!"  
  
"I can't help who I fall in love with!"  
  
"Draco, do not take me for some naïve fool. This is not some fairytale. In the real world there is no such thing as 'love at first sight', or 'fated love'. There is only the decision to fall in love. Love is not fate, it is decided upon. You love him because you chose to love him. And by doing that you betrayed your family and all that we are. He is one of them Draco. One of the people who have treated us like scum under their shoe for years. Do you think so little of your family, of _yourself_, to go and whore yourself to one of them? To them we are nothing but second class citizens that are below them." 

Lucius then stopped speaking, and for a moment just stared at his son. "You betrayed my faith in you, boy. If you hold my love and faith in such low regard then I don't know if I can hold yours any higher. "  
  
Unlike the rest of Lucius' speech, the last sentence was spoken in a steady tone, just above a whisper. Yet it had the same effect as if he had been bellowed it at the top of his lungs in the quiet night. The room seemed to freeze at the coldness of Lucius words. The other occupants in the room could only sit and stare at father and son. They were still as frozen to the spot now as they had been through the rest of the confrontation. Those that didn't know Lucius personally were shocked at the emotions he was showing, and those that did, were shocked at what he was saying. Many would take a look at the tall icy man and believe that money and power was what he held most dear to his heart, but those that knew that he had a heart, knew that his son was his heart. Nothing meant more to him then his baby Dragon. Not Narcissa. Not his name. His wife knew this and loved him all the more for it. So it was a shock to hear him deny the unconditional and selfless love, which only a parent can bestow, to his only child.

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Authors Note:

*ducks, with hands over head* Don't hurt me! I know, I know! It's damn short. *points to Lucius* Blame him. He just won't rant any more. I swear my characters have more control over me then I do of them! 

I tried to make this longer, but it just seemed strained. I was going to join this with the next part that I have already written but it won't fit. They must stand alone. *shrugs* 

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Wonapalei – I'm glad you like! I'm so happy. I know the chapters are a bit on the short side. I was just waiting for someone to bring that up. I'll try to make them longer and in the up coming events they may have to be, but right now I'm sorry. I just started university and the pile of assessments I have to cover is taller then me! And regardless of what my brother says I'm not that short! Certainly not as short as my Draco. hehe..

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Lady Laffs-a-Lot **–** I'm glad you think the twist was interesting. I was afraid most would get confused. This fic will be different. I'm trying to introduce new concepts. 

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drama-queen8 – I'm so happy to see that the beginning of this so far has captured your interest. If you want to see what happens next you have to keep reading!! Hehe…


	5. Our Miracle

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Title: You and I 

Author: Mage

Rating: R

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Authors reminder: Remember people this is an AU fic so there really isn't such a thing as OCnes in the characters here. I'm scared that you guys will be mad at me for that. 

I also have to point out that these guys are teenagers. This is their first love. So they don't deal with things the way that experienced adults will. Try to remember your teenage years and the loves that came. Remember the hardships, the confusion and how dire love could seem at that age. Remember the fear, the helplessness and how you didn't seem to know what to do. And don't ever forget the idealism that first love always seems to have. I'm still a teenager so I know these things! 

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CHAPTER FOUR: _Our Miracle  
_

  
Harry could take it no longer as he stared at his shaking boyfriend, trying with all his might to keep the tears that were shinning in his beautiful grey eyes from falling down his ivory cheeks. Harry could see that the Malfoy mask was cracking, so hurt was the boy from his father's stinging words. Harry wanted to comfort him, to hold him, to tell him that he was loved, and to hex the elder Malfoy from now till eternity for hurting his beloved.   
  
Finally, as he saw a single tear escape from Draco's eyes, he could take it no longer. He reached for his love. Those last words were spoken to hurt Draco, and hurt him it did. It had finally broken through the small Slytherin's armor and pierced his heart, the pain causing silent tears to leak from those majestic silver orbs.   
  
Draco stiffened for a moment in Harry's embrace until he finally accepted the love and comfort, burying his head in the folds of his boyfriend's robes. He finally let the tears come while he was hidden from view, hidden from the rest of the world, safe and secure in his lover's arms.   
  
As Harry held the delicate blonde to him, feeling the tears soak his black school robes, he felt like crying too.   
  
***  
  
Harry was angry at Lucius. How dare he do this. How dare he hurt someone so soft and delicate, so loving and faithful. How dare he hurt someone he loved so much. A fierce protectiveness pulsed through him and he turned his gaze to meet the elder Malfoy's.    
  
"You have no right," he growled at the icy man.  
  
"He is my son. I have all rights," Lucius spat back.   
  
"How dare you even call yourself his father after what you said!"   
  
"You insolent little prat! Do not lecture me on things you do not understand. This is all your fault!"  
  
Suddenly a new voice cut through Harry's reply. 

"Leave it Malfoy. I will deal with my son."   
  
In a flash, Harry's emerald gazed locked on that of his father's hazel eyes. He felt Draco stiffen in his arms and he held him tighter, bringing the smaller boy closer to his body in a protective embrace. He glared at his father, as if daring him to hurt his love any more then Lucius already had.   
  
"The scum in your arms is none of my concern boy!" James growled as if understanding Harry's gesture of protectiveness. "It is with you that I have a problem."  
  
Lucius's eyes flashed at the insult to Draco. "Do not call my son scum. If he is tainted it is because of the filth from your boy!"   
  
James turned to Lucius. "You said it yourself, Malfoy. Your son is a whore. A Slytherin whore, whoring himself to Gryffindor."  
  
Lucius lunged towards James, ready to tear him apart with his bare hands, all thoughts of magic, wands, and hex's gone from his mind as basic animal fury clouded his judgment. Dumbledore flew out of his seat, bringing his wand out to stop the furious man's attack. But the old man did not count on Narcissa attacking James herself. The resulting sound of Narcissa's open palm hitting James' pale cheek echoed like a whip.   
  
"Don't you dare insult my son!!" shrieked the raging woman. "He is twice the person your son is, and if he is guilty of anything, it is falling for an unworthy, lowly piece of trash that only a Potter can be."  
  
A shocked silence filled the room after Narcissa's outburst. Narcissa, usually so calm and collected, was looking at James with a fire shinning in her dark blue eyes that no one had ever seen before. Emotion was not something a typical Malfoy or Black ever showed, and Narcissa was a typical woman from both those families. So, seeing the quiet woman, who usually just let herself blend within the shades of Lucius' shadow, shinning like a beacon in her anger, was indeed a shocking sight to be seen.   
  
Even Draco had removed himself from the shelter of Harry's arms to gaze at his mother in shock and awe.   
  
Finally it was Harry's soft voice that broke through the shocked silence in the room.

"You're right, Mrs. Malfoy," said Harry. "I know I don't deserve him. But I also know that I love him."    
  
James turned back to his son. "How could you lower yourself to a Malfoy?"  
  
"Right now, Dad, what I'm wondering is how can Draco lower himself to be with a Potter. With the way you're acting, I feel ashamed to be one."   
  
"Harrison James Potter! You listen to me. You are the heir to the noble Potter line. You embody all that we are and all that _they _aren't. Our family personifies righteousness, honor, and courage. We embody all that is good," said Lily.  
  
James's voice continued, "You should be on your knees thanking Merlin that you were born into this family. And instead, look what you do. You turn your back on your families pride and go and shag a dirty little Malfoy whore. His whole family is dirty. Lucius probably shagged his way up the Death Eater ranks. I'm sure he is even Voldemort's little fuck toy."   
  
"Don't say that about my father!!"  
  
Before any of the older Malfoys had the chance to bring James down, Draco had broken away from Harry's side and walked up to James Potter. The petite blond stood before the towering form of the Lord of the Potter family, seeming taller then he was, so great was the power that seemed to radiate off him like the light from a star. Draco looked very much like his namesake. Gone was the little boy broken by his father's words, and standing in his place was the powerful young wizard that he had become.   
  
"My father is twice the man that you are," growled Draco, his eyes flashing. 

His voice was low, barely above a whisper. Alarm bells went off in Harry's mind. He knew it was when Draco did not shout that he was truly angry. 

"Call me a whore all you like, but you have _no right_ to bring my family into this."  
  
"I will bring them into this all I please, boy. Your family is full of dirty immoral cowards. And I will not have my family sullied by you and your _kind_," James spat.      
  
"We are not cowards. We stand up for what we believe in and we fight for what is right."  
  
"Your family are spies for Voldemort. I don't care what others may think. I know what you all are. You are lowly excuses for a noble wizarding family who bow down to trash like Voldemort. It is people like you and your parents that shame the wizarding race. You may have others believe that you have gone over to our side, but know this…to me and to many, you will all be nothing but trash, and you will be nothing but dark wizards who belong no where else but on the wrong end of our wands. All you and your blood," James snarled.   
  
Draco paled at James Potter's words. Harry knew what had caused the young Malfoy heir to pale. Harry knew what his love was feeling, feeling it within his heart as well. The man's last words had hit him to the core of his being, and filled him with dread. He saw the ice melt from Draco's eyes and tears start to gather. 

"How could you. My family has gone through hell and back because of Voldemort. It took everything we had to escape from his magical hold on us. He used us as unwilling slaves! When we escaped from his clutches, my family threw in everything with your side! We have given everything to the light. My father and mother have given all that they are. If it wasn't for them, your eyes in the Death Eater's camp would be blinded. Severus would have died if my father hadn't saved him."  
  
"They were most likely working together as Voldemort's spies. Using that episode as a show to blind us to their true loyalty"

  
Draco's eyes flashed, and when he spoke his voice was hard as steel. "Now I am beginning to understand that Slytherin philosophy. You Gryffindor's are nothing but close minded bigots that are no better then Voldemort. All you're good for is hiding under the robes of an elderly old man, all of you lacking the ability to even think for yourselves. You call us all evil and close minded, but you aren't even willing to see any light in the darkness! Sounds to me that if you were all taken off Dumbledore's leash you would massacre us in our sleep. Us and all our families. What, will you kill the children as well? You murdering bigots, you're-"  
  
The slapping sound of skin hitting skin broke whatever else Draco would have said. It took a moment for the occupants in the room to register that that sound was James Potter's hand meeting with the side of Draco's face. The young Slytherin was now on the floor, blood trickling from his split lip.   
  
James took the time brought about by everyone's momentary frozen shock to haul the boy of his feet and aim a blow to his stomach. But before his fist could reach his destination, Harry lunged towards his father, tackling him to the floor. They landed with James pinned under his son. Harry's eyes were a blazing emerald fire and he looked like he could kill at that very moment.   
  
"Don't you dare lay a hand on him," he growled, sounding more like an animal then a young man. "If you hurt him or the child I will kill you!!"  
  
"Now you're attacking me, boy? Is that what influence that brat has had on you? Attacking you own father! Have you gone dark now, too? You are no-"    
  
"What child?"   
  
Harry looked up at his mother's voice. But she wasn't looking at him, but at the blond Slytherin currently in Narcissa's embrace. One of his parents must have healed his lip for it was no longer bleeding. But it looked like the earlier attack was at the bottom of Draco's mind. A look of fear and shock was on his face. His wide eyes were diverted to Harry.   
  
Seeing the panic in Draco's eyes Harry moved off his father and walked over to Draco. Half way to his destination, his boyfriend broke away from his mother and fell into Harry's arms. 

"Harry, you fool," he whispered, however weakly.   
  
"I'm sorry. I was angry. I wasn't thinking," Harry wearily whispered, and kissed Draco's temple, his left hand straying down to rest on the blond's abdomen.   
  
"Draco, what is going on?" Lucius asked.  
  
"What is this about a child?" Narcissa inquired. 

  
"Child?" Came James meek question.   
  
"Perhaps we would all like to settle down a bit," Albus Dumbledore's soft voice broke through the room. "Lets all take a seat and then all can be made clear. Draco? Harry? A seat?"  
  
Draco wearily nodded and took a seat on the small sofa for two that the headmaster had summoned. Harry sat beside his boyfriend. He was worried and angry with himself for losing control and letting those words slip. He reached over and took his boyfriends hand in his for both their comfort. Harry's heart skipped a beat as Draco glanced up at him. Silvery grey eyes shinning with a love and faith that always took his breath away, no matter how many times he saw it turned on him. Momentarily lost in his lover's eyes, Harry leaned forward and captured Draco's almost feminine red lips with his own. For a moment they were lost. Just the two of them. Alone in the world.  
  
The sound of a cough jolted the two young lovers, gaining their attention. Harry and Draco turned towards the five waiting adults. One twinkling light blue gaze sparkling with a warmth and amusement, while four sets of eyes looked at them with fury and annoyance. 

"Perhaps you young gentlemen would like to begin," sounded Dumbledore's amused query.   
  
Harry and Draco had the gall to blush. Yet they both smiled, having being given a renewed faith and comfort after their kiss. They were both reminded what they were fighting for, and any obstacle in the way would be conquered and any scar gained would be worth the pain. After all, scars heal, but love was forever.   
  
Harry turned to Draco. "Would you like to tell them all, or shall I?"  
  
"You say it, love. After all, you were already half way there."  
  
Harry chuckled bringing the blond into his arms. "I really am sorry about that, love. You know me and my big mouth."   
  
Harry saw Draco's pale grey eyes darken and a mischievous flash appear in his eyes. He knew the wicked comment the Slytherin wanted to say, yet would never say with their parents around. Harry grinned at him and then turned to their parents. His light mood of moments before wavered, but he was determined to not make this announcement seem like announcing that of a death of friend.   
  
"Mum, Dad. Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy. Draco and I are going to have a baby."  
  
The silence in the room was so loud it was deafening. The two boys looked at their parents expectantly. After what seemed like minutes no response still came. Draco started to visibly loss his Malfoy cool and squirm nervously in Harry's arms. He glanced up at his lover, a question shinning in his eyes. Harry returned his boyfriend's worried look and shrugged slightly, having no clue what was happening. Draco started to gnaw on the rosy softness of his bottom lip in what Harry knew was a nervous gesture that Draco only did when he felt lost and helpless. The small Slytherin buried deeper in his love's embrace, his left hand straying to rest on his still flat belly. The unconscious protective gesture did not go unnoticed by Harry. The Gryffindor placed his own hand over Draco's own and tightened his hold on the Slytherin. Draco smiled at his love, accepting the comfort and support that he offered.      
  
"Whose baby?"  
  
The silence in the room had been so total that the softly spoken words rang loud in the room, causing the two young men to jump. 

"Wh-what dad?" Harry asked the speaker.   
  
"I asked whose baby this is," said James in an oddly calm and flat voice.  
  
Harry looked slightly confused. "Why are you even asking that. I already told you that it's mine and Dray's."  
  
"Are you even sure you're the other father?"  
  
Harry just stared at his father until the implication of his father's words sunk in. Furious, he jumped to his feet. "What?! How can you even ask that?! Of course it's mine!"  
  
"How could you know that for certain?" James finally lost his eerie calm and his trademark temper was back. "Have you even had a paternity spell cast on that baby?"  
  
"I don't need to! I know that this child is mine and no one else's!"  
  
"The slut probably lets anyone have a go at him! He probably picked you off a list of his conquests to attach with parental obligations. I'm sure he doesn't know who the other father is and just thought to blame you for that mistake in an effort to embarrass your family!"   
  
"You-" Harry growled.   
  
"Harry, please calm down." Draco's desperate request finally got through to the raging Gryffindor.  
  
Harry looked down at Draco, who was now perched on the edge of the sofa, a delicate hand grasping one of his own in a weak effort to get him to sit back down. 

"Please. This is not helping." 

Harry's heart broke at Draco's voice, so soft and timid. Seeing his fierce and defiant Slytherin so fragile and vulnerable struck Harry to the very core of his soul. Draco looked like a little child at that moment. Sitting there with tears shimmering in those brilliant glass orbs, a fragile hand still resting protectively over his belly, and his small frame hunched into himself. The power in his form was absent and his eyes lacked that spirit that Harry loved so much. He looked delicate, brittle. Broken.       
  
The protective instinct that was born of Harry's love for Draco and their unborn child took over his system. He resumed his seat and took Draco in his arms once more. The small boy gave him a weak smile. 

"This taking me in your arms every time I lose it like some blubbering girl is getting a little old," he tiredly joked.   
  
Harry lovingly smiled down at him. "It's the hormones, love. Don't worry, you'll be back to you usual crass self in no time."  
  
"'Crass' ?" Draco sniffed raising his chin in the air. "Who are you calling crass Potter. Just for that you are going to sleep on the couch for a week." 

Draco gave one last huff, crossing his arms over his chest and turned away from the Gryffindor.  
  
Harry chuckled. He loved it when they acted like a married couple. It gave him a feeling of security and tranquility. Reminding him of the deep love that they shared. It gave him a sense of certainty for the future, and a glimpse of a happy marriage with many laughing, noisy children.  
  
Still chuckling Harry pulled the sulking Malfoy heir to him and intertwined his long fingers with the elegant ones of his love. Harry watched the pouting look on Draco's face turn into a contented smile as Draco's grey eyes rested on their intertwined hands resting securely over Draco's stomach were their child rested.    
  
The two former rivals looked up from their moment at the sound of a chuckle. Albus Dumbledore was gazing at them with sparkling blue eyes filled with amusement at their antics. He smiled at them, shaking his head. The two merely smiled back. They knew very well that they were the constant subject for the old man's amusement these days, but neither cared, as they were both very much indebted to him for all he had done for them, and all the things they never knew he did.   
  
"A child coming into this world is always a good thing. An eternal light in world so full of darkness," said Dumbledore.   
  
Dumbledore's firm statement jolted Narcissa out of her shock and brought her forth from for her thoughts. Yet she was completely ignoring Dumbledore's words. 

"How could you let this happen, Draco?"   
  
***  
  
"I didn't let it happen, mother," said Draco, calm and cool once more. "It was a surprise. A surprising _blessing_." 

He put extra emphasis on the last word, his eyes fierce and defiant. His earlier moment with Harry reminding him what it is they were fighting for.  
  
"A blessing? You call this a blessing! Draco Malfoy you are sixteen years old. This child has ruined your life before it has even had the chance to properly begin," Narcissa stated fiercely.  
  
"My child is not to blame for anything!"  
  
A twisted smile marred Narcissa's face at Draco's words. "That's right, son. It isn't the child's fault you decided to whore yourself out."  
  
Draco looked stung at her words. From Lucius the name was just that, a name. His father often used vulgarity to express strong emotions, often not meaning them in literally. But Narcissa was different. She was a proper lady. Sophistication flowing from her every pore, always calm and collected. Her words were always meant in literally. 

"I am not a whore!"  
  
"If that is so, then why do you embarrass your family by being pregnant with a bastard child?" Narcissa yelled. "Is this how we raised you, to dishonor yourself and your family?"  
  
"This is not my fault," he whispered weakly.   
  
"Not your fault?!" Narcissa yelled, grabbing her son's upper arm, forcing him to turn to her. "How is this not your fault, Draco? Did Harry Potter force himself on you?! Did he take you without consent?! Did he force you to choke down a conception potion to get to get you pregnant?! Well?." Her tone was fierce and condescending. "Because if so, tell us. We'll have the boy arrested and thrown into Azkaban!"  
  
Narcissa's words caused Draco to wince. The underlying sarcasm in them, making him uneasy. Her sharp Ravenclaw mind had come to its own conclusions. She knew very well that this was, at least in part, Draco's fault. She knew and she wanted him to say it. She had always been like that. She would force Draco to face his mistakes no matter how painful the reality may be. She would make him break down his mistakes and realize the wrong choices that he made that lead to them. 

"No," he said meekly, turning his eyes to the floor. "Harry is not to blame."  
  
"Then what happened, Draco? What could have possibly brought this about? Don't you tell me that this child is some miracle. Male pregnancies need a conception potion to come about. It can not be brought about naturally. You have to have drunk something Draco. What in Merlin's name happened?!"  
  
"I-I-I did." Draco's famous eloquence was gone. His words were a stutter and his voice was a barely heard weak whisper.   
  
Narcissa on the other hand was a raging volcano in her anger. Usually soft and cool voice booming like thunder in the room. "You did what?"  
  
"I drank a conception potion."  
  
"Why?!?" Narcissa yelled, looking at a lost over her son's actions. "You willingly took a conception potion. What were you thinking? That by being pregnant with Potter's child we would accept your relationship with him? That by being pregnant with a Potter would make his family except you? Why Draco? I just do not understand how you could possibly do such a foolish thing!"   
  
When Draco didn't answer, Narcissa reached over and grabbed his chin, forcing his face up to look at her. When Draco's face became visible, crystal tears could be seen running tracks down his ivory cheeks. From the corner of his eye he saw James Potter restraining a struggling Harry. Yet Draco could not bring himself to feel anything. He felt numb. His parents hated him, and hated the miracle growing within him. He was alone. Well he had Harry, but it was clear that Harry's parents accepted this even less. Eventually he would be taken from him too.   
  
Draco looked like a small child, lost and unsure. Those expressive eyes were shimmering with every fear, every pain, and every worry. Yet Narcissa only continued to gaze at him with a piecing stare.   
  
"Why?"  
  
Draco tried to pray his face away from her grip. He was sobbing now, vision blurry over the fountain of tears streaming from his eyes.   
  
"Why?"  
  
Draco let out a sob. "I didn't mean too," he choked.  
  
"Then how?"  
  
"It-it was a party that the Gryffindor's were throwing before the Christmas break. Seamus Finnigan's birthday was during the holidays. But since everybody spent Christmas break with family he-he decided to have his party before," he managed to choke out. 

"Everybody was invited. Seamus is friends with everyone. Even the Slytherins. It was one of the only times that Serpents and Gryffins can be civil…" he trailed off, diverting his gaze away from his mother's face and sniffed.  
  
"What happened at the party, Draco?" Narcissa asked firmly.   
  
Gulping Draco continued. "The whole place was a jumble of activity. There were people just throwing random ingredients to make a potion."  
  
Narcissa looked confused. "Why were they doing that?"  
  
Draco nervously chewed on his lower lip and didn't reply. Narcissa narrowed her eyes at his lack of answer and repeated her question more forcibly then before. 

"Why were they doing that, Draco?"  
  
Draco gulped and answered meekly. "They were trying to create something to-to make us loosen up."  
  
There was a moments paused and then, "What?! They were making drugs?"  
  
"They-they didn't know how. They were just messing around," Draco said in a rush.   
  
Narcissa narrowed her eyes and stated "Continue."  
  
"They then took out some old book. I remember seeing them just making random potions from it. They were going to use it in a couple of games. I don't even think they knew what the potions were," he said. "The book was really old. Blaise told me that it was fading. That some of the titles were gone. He also mentioned that those were the potions that they mostly chose to do." He said those last words in a breathless whisper, his eyes looking far away, as if he was just beginning to realize the weight of what happened that night.  
  
"They put the potions in black bottles so the contents could not be seen. One of them was placed in a card game I was playing. The loser was to drink the potion," he said tiredly. "I lost."   
  
A heavy silence filled in the room after Draco had finished. Finally it was broken by a female voice. Surprisingly it was Lily who spoke. "The potion you drank turned out to be a conception potion?"  
  
"Yes," Draco answered quietly.   
  
Narcissa finally emerged from her thoughts and turned her attention to both Draco and Harry in turn. 

"Then you consummated the potion that night. Conception potion only work during a twenty four hour interval."  
  
Harry turned red under Narcissa's hard stare, while Draco refused to make eye contact. Then, without warning, Draco's face was thrown backward as he stumbled back a couple of steps. A fuming Narcissa had slapped her son.   
  
Draco stood there clutching his rapidly flaming cheek. He stared at his mother in shock. Never had either of his parents laid a hand on him. Never had they ever hurt him.   
  
"You disgust me Draco. This is all because of your god damn stupidity," she said fiercely through grated teeth.  
  
Draco just stood there, eyes wide and watery. Then into the silence he let out a heart wrenching sob and bolted out of the room.

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Authors Note: 

If you have any questions just ask and I'll answer. Either put it in your review or if it is long and many then send me an e-mail at EbonyMage_@hotmail.com. For any people who want to flame please just e-mail it to me. I'm a bit scared of flames because this is my first fic and I'm not use to them. 

*** 

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Elvish Lady – I'm glad you like my story. You don't have to be sorry for wanting to point out any flaws that might be in the story. I actually know the colour of Lilly and James's eyes. Well okay, I knew Lily's eyes were green, but I guessed James's eye colour. I didn't know it when I first started writing this, so I made it hazel for this story.

I'm guessing that you got mixed up when you read the chapter _'Of Blazing Emerald and Steely Silver'_. I knew that chapter was going to confuse, so let me explain. In that chapter the key to identifying the characters identities is through their eye colour. 

James is hazel – he is the _"glaring hazel eyes…clashing with silver"._

Lilly is jade/emerald – she is the first to speak and is the _"pair of jade eyes that were blazing with emerald fire" _

__

"The tall figure of Harry Potter stood before the headmasters door, looking nervous and apprehensive. His brilliant emerald eyes sweeping through the room in one quick motion, pausing momentarily at a jade eyed women, sitting on one of the two chairs before the headmasters desk, and the hazel eyed man standing behind her." (here is an extract from chapter two that show this).

Lucius is silver/grey_ – _He is the second to speak and the one arguing with "Potter" who is James. 

Narcissa is dark blue – She is the one that Albus thinks is _'Ever the level headed Ravenclaw, young Black'. _

The key to understanding the identities of the charters in _'prologue: Smile, Kiss, Sigh'_ and _'chapter one: Of Blazing Emerald and Steely Silver' _is in chapter two. The clues and answers are all in there. I wrote these three together just for this. Oh and for those still confused, in the prologue that is Harry and Draco. That part will connect to their entrance in chapter two. 

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Texasjeanette – Thank you for showing an interest to the story. I assure you all the things you pointed out will play a major role in the theme of their relationship. You'll just have to see whether their relationship will survive this. You'll just have to come along for the ride. 

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Lady Laffs-a-Lot – Hey your back! That's so wonderful! Thank you so much for reading this. I know that the chapter was short. Even I was pissed of at it's length. I hope this new chapter's length is to your liking. I was going to break this chapter into two, but I put myself in the readers shoes and decided that I didn't like that. 

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Arigazi – LoL. I like you. You remind me of me. I use to leave reviews like yours until I get told off by the administers on that site. But you can leave reviews like that all you like here. I like them. Well my kindred spirit here is your update. I hope it leaves you better satisfied…but after just re-reading it's own ending I doubt. Hehe…just come along for the ride and I promise you, you can through as much tantrums as you like and throw as much heavy objects as you want. 

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Sowen – You'll know how the boys will deal with this as you read the story. How they deal with this is the main plot of the story. The sub plots will fit this fic within the series it is part of. The sub-plot is them discovering who they are inside. I'm so happy your interested in this. I hope your satisfied with the journey I'm about to take you on. 

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Freddysgurl8904 – I love your review. Your so enthusiastic. I love you!…don't worry I don't plan to stop writing. If I didn't have to sleep, eat and go to uni I wouldn't stop writing. But my friends think that spending all my time writing HP fiction instead of hanging out with them is an insult. Hehe. 

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drama-queen8 – Another familiar face. Thank you for sticking to this. Yeah I know, poor Draco. Don't you just want to give him a hug? I would, but Harry's mean and won't share. 

Yeah trust me Lucius's speech is very much a slap on the face for our Draco. In this world that this story is based in he had grown up with loving parents, so what his father just said is killing him inside. You'll see later how Draco deals with this. He is very confused and hurt. I'm glad your an angst lover because the upcoming chapters will contain enough for your taste. There will be tears before sunshine. So be warned. 


	6. Love of a Lion

Title: You and I

Author: Mage

Rating: R

* * *

CHAPTER FIVE: _Love of a Lion_

The room seemed to stand in paralysed shock for a moment. It occupants staring at the retreating boy in stunned silence. For a moment, Harry just stood there staring after Draco's retreating form before he snapped out of his shock and moved to go after him.

"Let him go Harry."

The soft voice of Albus Dumbledore stopped Harry in his tracks. "He needs to be alone right now."  
  
Harry turned to the old man, seeing him look sad and withdrawn. His eyes were sparkling, but for once it wasn't because of cheer. To Harry, it strangely seemed like he was forcing himself not to cry. Seeing Dumbledore like this only made Harry more angry. If the old man was feeling like this for Draco, just by having seen what happened to him, he could only imagine the immeasurable pain that his love was going through. And the knowledge that this was partly his fault only fueled his anger.   
  
Gazing around the room, Harry set his eyes on the source of his lover's pain. He was shaking all over.

"How could you hurt him like that?" he asked through greeted teeth. "Your own son!"  
  
"Right now he is no son of mine!" Narcissa said fiercely. "No son of mine would ever degrade himself like this! Carrying a bastard child created during some drunken party."   
  
"That child Draco is carrying is not some product of a sleazy fling! He was made through the love of two people. We love each other!"  
  
"The love of two people?" came Narcissa's snarling retort. "Just because you have created a child doesn't mean that you two are in love. Just because you have had sex it doesn't mean you even know what love truly is!"  
  
"Do not tell me what I know and do not know, Mrs. Malfoy!" Harry yelled. "You do not know me! And it looks to me like you do not know Draco either."  
  
"Do not tell me that I do not know my own son. I do know him. I just do not know this person that he has become."  
  
All emotion suddenly evaporated from Harry's face and a blank mask was in its place. When he spoke, the anger that his voice had contained only moments before was gone, replaced with an eerily calm and emotionless tone.

"That's what I have found lacking with parents," Harry said.

Though his voice was just above a whisper, it rang loud and clear in the otherwise quiet room.

"Their lack of ability to actually put those oh so infamous words out of context and into reality. They have it in their minds that they know you. Yet what they see is what they want to see. They have this illusion of who you are in their heads and they think that that is who you really are. They believe that just because they brought you into this world, they have all rights to you and who you are. Well, let me tell you this. They don't. You know us no better then the strangers on the street!"

By this time Harry's tone had grown bitter.   
  
"You know Narcissa, you were right before. There are many things I still do not know, but let me tell you this. I know I will not make the mistake with my son that you have all made with us," he stated.

Then, with his last words, he diverted his eyes to two other occupants in the room, yet his words hit all present. "I will not make the mistake of being a failure of a parent."  
  
Narcissa's soft features, so like her son's, were drawn into a mask of pain. Her midnight blue eyes, glossy with tears, had turned almost black as a result of the weight of her emotions. Harry had wanted to hurt her like she had hurt Draco, and one look in those haunted eyes and he knew he had succeeded. The bitter words that he had dragged from the very depth of his soul were brought forth to lash at her, and it cut her deep. Somehow Harry could not bring himself to care. Those words had filled every part of his being when they were spilled into the open, and he only relished the pain shining in Narcissa's eyes. Her pain only served as a perfect partner for what he felt inside.   
  
Narcissa started to shake in her pain and despair. Her pearly teeth gripping her bottom lip tightly, in an effort to stop the sob from escaping. She gnawed at her lip, hard and unyielding.   
  
Harry froze.   
  
He had seen that act so many times. Seen it accompanied by scared grey eyes, gazing up at him with so much love and faith. It was an external indicator of what the young blond boy would be feeling inside. Lost and vulnerable. It was a part of Draco that, up until now, only he was ever allowed to see. A product of a lover's unyielding trust.   
  
Seeing the act, so similar to his love's, brought him out of bitter darkness, and he pushed the shadows back to the bottom of his being. In shame, he closed his eyes against the sight. But when he closed his eyes, instead of darkness, he was only met with the trusting eyes of his love. Eyes that belonged to a person that trusted him not to betray his heart and all it contained. Yet he knew he had. Harry had known. Known from the moment that the beautiful blond had let him in, how important his family was to him. You can not know Draco's heart without knowing his family. He knew that Narcissa and Lucius were only acting as many parents would be. Their fear for their child, and their anger for the situation that he was now forced into, had clouded their judgment. They were emotional, they were scared, they were angry, and they did not think about what they were saying.

Harry had let his own bitterness fuel his anger, and Narcissa had gotten burnt. He knew that she didn't deserve it. He doubted that there was another mother out there who loved their son more then her. She had only acted as many mothers would at first, had their teenage children been in this situation. Harry had hurt her, and in a way, he felt that he had hurt Draco, too.   
  
"You know what else I know, Mrs. Malfoy? I know your son. I know who he is inside. He is so amazing, so loving and loyal, so perfect, so pure. I've loved him for so long. Loved him so much it hurts. Nothing I have ever had with him has ever been sullied by something as dirty as a mere fling. He isn't like that. He will never settle for something that meaningless. I will tell you this; that once I would have taken him as a mere fling and nothing more. But I now know Draco. I know that he wouldn't have settled for that. You have raised an amazing person, Mrs. Malfoy."   
  
Harry started at Narcissa, eyes shinning with an earnest truth. Draco was like that. Upon seeing the Slytherin boy you would think him so cold, so heartless, so immoral, but in reality Harry at times felt inadequate next to the amazing person that Draco was. Having seen Lucius, Harry now saw the echoes of this man in his son. To the world they were unyielding, their name shadowing who they were. Yet they were, in truth, so honorable.   
  
Harry remembered the day he had met Draco, at Madam Malkins robe shop. He remembered the day that the young blond boy had held out his hand in friendship. He remembered his rejecting of that first bond upon hearing the young boy's name. He had judged him first by the prejudice placed upon that name. Yet throughout the following years, he could not shake himself of the boy. His strength and defiance had captivated Harry. That fierce spirit and dazzling presence that was so uniquely Draco pulled him towards the boy.   
  
Draco at times could be cold, ruthless, crass, and even a little heartless. But as the years passed and Harry was no longer the boy immersed in his parents' prejudices, and he learned to think on his own, he began to realize the unfairness of the world. He saw the prejudices placed upon the Slytherins and families like the Malfoys. He began to notice the hurt in the Slytherin boy's eyes when they taunted and judged him. He began to recognize the mask that Draco wore for what it was. A shield to protect him from the world's disposition.   
  
When the puzzle that was Draco Malfoy began to form in front of him, Harry knew, he knew that it was no shame to feel such a pull to the Slytherin. That the attraction that for so many years he fought so hard to deny, was no sully to his character.   
  
In Draco, he had learnt that there was more to one then the mask they wore. When they were alone, Draco would let that mask fall and he was even more amazing. He remembered their first time. He remembered the surprise that he felt at the realization that the gorgeous "Slytherin sex god" was, in fact, a virgin. He remembered the fierce possessiveness that had grown in him. This boy was his only. He remembered soon after the fierce protectiveness that had over come him as he watched the boy looking so delicate and angelic in his slumber. This boy was his. His to protect. No one would hurt him.   
  
In Draco, he had learnt what love truly was. In all its joys. In all its sadness. In all its beauty and ugliness. He learnt how it felt to feel so vulnerable under someone's possession. He learnt what it was to feel powerful over someone's whole being. In Draco he had grown, and in Draco he had found the best and worst he could be.   
  
"I'm sorry for what I said earlier, Mrs. Malfoy," Harry said softly. "It's just, I'm a little protective of Draco. I hate seeing him hurt. I'll protect him from everything. Even if it is from you."  
  
Narcissa looked up, her shimmering eyes locking on Harry's. "You love him that much?" she whispered.   
  
"Not even close," Harry replied. "I love him that much more."  
  
At that Harry stepped away from the delicate woman and let his gaze roam the room. The other occupants were still in their places looking at him with mixed emotions in their eyes. Lucius sat in confused shock in his seat, seemingly lost in his thoughts. Harry's parents were looking at him with strange emotions flickering in their eyes. They were looking at him as if he were a stranger they were seeing for the first time.   
  
He tore his eyes away from them. He couldn't bear to see them looking at him like that. It shouldn't hurt. 

'_It's not like I've never seen it before'._

With that thought in his mind, he turned and followed the path that Draco had taken out of the room.

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Harry wound his way through the myriad of corridors that crisscrossed throughout the castle. Slipping into the dungeons, he twisted his way towards the Slytherin dormitories. Just like with the other three houses, the prefect rooms could be accessed from outside the common rooms. The prefect rooms had two points of access. One from the dormitories, and another in a separate corridor, behind the one that lead towards the commons. It was through this corridor that Harry found himself walking through now. It was a route that he knew as well as the destination towards the Gryffindor commons, so many times had he walked it.   
  
Standing outside a portrait of a giant green and silver snake, Harry closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He knew he had to compose himself. He had to be the strength that Draco needed during this time, when the baby was taking all of the delicate boy's strength. Opening his eyes, he whispered the password.The portrait opened with a gentle whoosh. Upon stepping inside, the first thing that Harry noticed was the heavy humidity. He frowned and walked towards the dead fire place. He lifted his hand towards it and created a roaring fire. Satisfied with the room's warmth the Gryffindor moved towards the bedroom door. Upon reaching the wooden door, the sound emitting from the room made him freeze in his tracks. Heart wrenching sobs could be heard from the room. The sounds made his heart ache, and for the first time that night, tears began to fall down his cheeks. He leaned his forehead against the closed door for a moment, and just let the silent tears ran their course. His heart needed this release.   
  
He didn't know what he was feeling any more, so jumbled were his emotions. He felt guilty for what Draco was going through, and what he had destroyed in the other boy's life. He felt angry at his own parents' actions. Then there was that small feeling mixed with something else that he just couldn't face right now.   
  
It was envy.   
  
In that room, he had seen in Lucius and Narcissa's eyes just how much their son meant to them. Beyond their shock, beyond their anger, beyond their bitterness and hurt, he saw fear. Fear for what their son would now have to face, if the war torn wizarding world ever found out about this. Draco's parents loved him with all that was in them for loving. In that, there was no denying. It was this knowledge that caused another emotion to mix with Harry's envy. An emotion that he was too scared to acknowledge.   
  
It was hate.   
  
In that dark part of his heart, he hated Draco for what he had. The love of his parents. For Draco's parents their bitter words were a mask that hid their worry for their son, and they were hurt for having been lied to. But for Harry, his parents were worried about his loyalty and about the damaging of their family's reputation.   
  
Harry bit his lip at the thought, until blood started to ooze from a wound he opened. He used the pain from the wound as an awakening, to pull him away from those thoughts. He had to focus his thoughts away from his problems with his family. He couldn't let his bitterness towards his parents tarnish the love that he and Draco had. Licking the blood from his lip he finally opened the bedroom door.   
  
The sight that met him caused all his earlier dark thoughts to disappear, and once again his heart clenched.   
  
Draco lay curled up in a tight ball, sobs shaking his small frame. Seeing Draco like this shook Harry to the very core of his soul. He had seen the boy at his darkest and in moments of sadness, lost, fear and hopelessness. He had thought he had seen Draco at his darkest moment, but never had he seen him like this.   
  
When they had first gotten together, Narcissa had been going through a very bad illness. She had almost died. He had seen Draco through that dark time and seen him through many smaller moments that hit the boy as the challenges of growing up became too much. Yet even through all of that, that fire in Draco's spirit that seemed to shine from his very soul and reflected in his dazzling eyes was still there. That strength and defiance that marked Draco's character was his constant companion. And Harry could never forget that confidence that would make Draco shine like a star when he walked into a room. It was these qualities that drew people to the small blond boy. In appearance, he was graceful, elegant, and almost feminine. One could mistake him for being fragile, but Harry had seen bigger and braver men tremble under the delicate boy's stare, had seen many bend at the mere presence that the boy emitted. And it was in those moments that Harry was reminded that this petite boy was the reigning Prince of Slytherin. The Serpent Lord himself.   
  
Yet now there was not a trace of any of that in Draco.   
  
Harry sighed and walked slowly towards the bed were Draco lay. He dropped down beside the boy and took him in his arms. Draco's light weight moved easily towards him. The Slytherin looked up and Harry was met with the tear stained eyes of this lover. Instead of the silver-grey eyes that always mesmerized him, he was gazing into dirty grey. For a moment they just stared at each other, reading each others emotions in the others eyes. Then Harry leaned forward and brushed his lips against the slightly parted and wounded lips of his lover. He saw Draco close his eyes and savor the brief feeling of closeness that the innocent touch brought. Then, opening his eyes, Draco ran his eyes over his boyfriend's face and frowned at Harry's wounded lip. A delicate hand raised up to brush Harry's injured lip and Draco gazed up at Harry, a silent question shimmering in his eyes.   
  
Harry just gave a soft smile and leaned over to kiss those rosy lips that he loved so much. He shook his head in the kiss, a silent answer against the other boy's worry. Draco gave a frustrated sigh, but didn't move his lips from their slight contact. Harry leaned closer and finally deepened the kiss. Draco arched his frame towards his lover and a soft moan escaped from him. Breaking the kiss, Harry leaned his forehead against Draco's, and looked deep into his eyes.   
  
"I love you."   
  
The words seemed to have been more sighed then spoken as they were uttered directly into Draco's mouth. The gentle movement of Harry's lips against Draco's seeming to be the only indication that those words were even said and not imagined.   
  
For the rest of the night no more words were spoken. Their actions speaking louder then words. For the rest of the night they showed each other that they were not alone. That they were wanted. That they were needed. 

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Authors Note:

I clicked on my stats button and I thought I was logged on to the wrong account! Cause I can't believe how many people are actually reading this. When I was first writing this I told my self I'd be happy with at the most 10 reviews, but…well you guys are just the best!

This chapter is very important and I have to admit was harder to write then I thought. I'm sorry if you guys think that Harry is out of character, but I'll tell you this I have always been fascinated with the fact that Harry was suppose to be a Slytherin.

I know this chapter may be strange as well as the Harry in it, but I wrote this as a glimpse into the very bottom of Harry's being. As human beings we all have dark thoughts and desires, so with Harry I opened for you the door to that part of his being, that for most people are shut very tight.

Here are the responses to all your much appreciated reviews people. I tried to answer and comment on things the best I could, but I have this whole story planed out, including personalities, so you will just have to see. If you think someone is out of character tell me and I'll tell you what lead to them being like that.

Many commented about Lily. Where here she is:

Don't forget that she is a muggle-born. Lily has fought and seen two wars that are against her "kind" so to say. She would be wary of pureblood wizards that have been known to fight for the very cause that is destroying her "kind". Even though these wizards may have been proven innocent, there is still some type of underlining suspicion that people have. These are war torn days. Remember what Hagrid said to Harry in the first book, when he told him about what it was like when Voldemort was first in power. The Suspicion, the lack of trust in their fellows. Suspicion is the way things are, caution is how you survive.

Lily's family has also been betrayed by Wormtail. They became wary of betrayal when he was found out. If a friend can betray them then what of an enemy, even if they are fighting for your side of not. Lily is a lot more hardened in my story, as you will see.

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NayNymic—hehe…well you got it dead on. Here is Harry telling those idiots off. And with Harry's words they have gotten what's coming to them. Imagine your a parent and beings said these things too. All I can say is ouch.

Sowen—You really think I write heart-wrenching stuff well? Well thank you. I appreciate you saying that. I always worry that that I get that wrong. Writing angst is draining to the system. This chapter is even more angst then the other one. Thanks for the complement. I just love you for it!

Slytherin Bitch 4 ever—Yeah I know Draco is getting slapped around a lot. That chapter was actually the blending of two posts so I didn't notice. The first slap was a plot device to get the baby's existence revealed and to bring more of this James's personality to shine through. As for the next slap well I tried really hard to make sure that Narcissa's reaction was very real and I figured that mother's in this situation always react with some sort of "slut" insult and a slap. I've seen it before. And for harm coming to the baby…well your very sharp for getting that as I've only started to clue into it now. I will tell you guys this now. This pregnancy is the center of this story. It is what will become because of the existence of this child that is the stories underlining journey.

eminem4eva—I'm sorry this post is a little late, but hopefully it is good enough for your taste.

Tygrressatheart—Hey I did make them really close-minded didn't I? To be honest in my heart Lily and James would always be the loving and perfect parents that cannon Harry dreams that they are. But for this story I took the clues on who they are, combined it with how they would turn out if they lived in this story's world, and created them as you see then here. In Snape's pensive we saw an evil streak in James and a fire of defiance in Lily. And Lily isn't horrible, she is just well…you'll see.

Isis-mystic—Thank you for reading this and I'm glad you thing it's great. Your much appreciated.

Lady Laffs-a-Lot—Yeah I made sure to make that chapter long to make up for 'Tears of a Dragon'. That's actually one of my favourite chapters, but it's damn short. You're in a play? Wow that sounds great. I love the arts of any kind. Good luck to you.

HP Girl—Yeah family feuds are nasty aren't they. Running away to America? Well I would certainly love that, but as for Harry and Draco…well we'll just have to see where the road takes them.

Pirate Bitch nut—_"This is fucking awesome!"_ Are you serious? Do you really mean that? Thanks! You express things like I do. I have a tendency to punctuate my speak with such vulgarity as well, much like Lucius in my story. Your great as well. Thanks for the high praises.

Psychotic Pen—You put me on favourites list! Thank you! I never thought anyone would do that! I love you so much!

drama-queen8—Oh god there really will be a lot of tears. Yeah Draco is really the one taking most of the blows and he will later on too. He will seem to take it harder then Harry, as this much pain and resentment from the people who are suppose to love him, no matter what, is new to him. In many ways because Draco was raised in a some what sheltered and loving environment, he is some what naive when it comes to things like love. And add that painful awakening with the hormones that comes with been pregnant, and you got yourself a rain of tears.

Yaoi Angel—You've read this over seven times? Wow that's amazing! I can't believe you like this so much. Thanks for saying you like my writing style. I never posted fanfics before because I was scared I wasn't a good enough writer. Thank you for giving me some confidence. Glad you like Draco-torture, because your going to need to, as you read along. smirks

Freddysgurl8904—Yeah I know I'm hating their parents very much at the moment too. As for thinking their mothers would except them? Well when I wrote this I though "how would a mother of a teenage child react, if their young child is having a baby, with someone you think, will take them down a bad path". So as much as it pained me to write it, I wrote it like that.

And also thank you to the people who put me on authors alert and favourites. You all make me happy to know that I am not wasting my time writing this.


	7. The Mistakes We've Made

Title: You and I

Author: Mage

Rating: R

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**CHAPTER SIX: _The Mistakes We've Made_**An eternity, doused in silence, seemed to pass in the room after the parting of the Potter heir. The atmosphere was heavy, tension thick with the weight of emotion. The five remaining occupants in the room stood frozen in their places, lost in the labyrinth of their own thoughts.   
  
Albus Dumbledore let his somber gaze settle on the four other people. He had seen these four through their youth and had help shape them into adulthood. As every child that had walked through the halls of Hogwarts, these four were in his heart — very much his children; and like a father watching their children suffer he felt his heart break for them.   
  
Albus knew, with a deep understanding brought about by the weight of experience, the hardship of parenthood. He understood that there was no greater or harder task that could ever be bestowed upon a person than that of being a parent.   
  
His wandering eyes settled on the figures of James and Lily Potter. Albus was not blind to the mistakes that, as parents, these people had made, having watched them these many years. Yet he could not help but feel for them. These two had been through so much, their eyes holding the weight of one who had seen more then they should have. A whisper of shame weeded its way into his heart, as deep inside he felt that the weight of their past and present was no excuse for the weight of their mistakes. A part of him that he tried to ignore felt that James and Lily deserved Harry's bitterness.  
  
A muffled sound brought Albus's attention from the Potters to the Malfoy couple. The deep silence in the room had finally been shattered by Narcissa, who could no longer hold back her sobs. She fell into Lucius' comforting embrace, her tears soaking her husband's dark robes. Looking at Lucius and Narcissa, he no longer felt ashamed for feeling such a thing about James and Lily.   
  
There were others who had lived through just as much death and darkness as Lily and James. The Malfoys having been one of them. These two were also marked with the pain of experience, had lived through lives that others would not have had the strength to bear even in their nightmares, and had waked down paths that many would rather have given their soul than to have to tread. Yet even through all that, they still had a family others would give their very lives to experience for just a moment.   
  
With that knowledge, he let his heart cheer Harry for his words. Words that he knew were inspired by the acts of these two former Gryffindors. These two had made a mistake in a part of their life that they should never have overlooked. He knew that Harry's words had been justified, and a darker part of him felt that it was not nearly enough.   
  
Albus shook his head sadly in an effort to clear his mind of the regret he felt. The past was the past. Nothing could change it.   
  
With a sigh, Albus spoke. 

"Please, I implore you to understand this from Harry and Draco's point of view. Those two truly love one another."  
  
James head whipped up and he glared at the headmaster.

"Love? How can you call what they have, love? They are just children. They do not even know what real love is."  
  
"Passion is not limited to age, James. Do you not remember being young once and being caught in its web?"  
  
"Love isn't passion, and passion isn't love."  
  
"Isn't it, James? Passion is just love at its rawest quality."  
  
James looked at Albus in exasperation.

"Why are you pushing this? Why are you siding with them?"  
  
"Don't you remember how desperate love could be at that age? Being sixteen and in love has never been easy."  
  
"That's my point. They are _sixteen_. They are too young to distinguish love from lust."  
  
"James, you can not give love any limits; whether by age, by gender or by culture. Love is love and can never be changed. Just because you think that two people can not experience love together and you give an empty reason why, does not mean that you are right. You do not know their hearts, James."  
  
"And neither do you," James retorted fiercely.  
  
"Maybe. But I have seen them. As you have seen only moments before. Can you honestly look with unbiased eyes at those two and still not see the love that is clearly there?"  
  
James just glared. "You need to jump off the rainbow old man and take off those rose-tinted glasses."  
  
Albus chose not to respond to James statement. He knew James, knew that the man could not be pushed or he would only believe it more. James was James. Stubborn and headstrong. A man abundant with the qualities that marked a truly great leader. Courageous, honorable, strong, intelligent. Yet while he was blessed with the strengths of leaders, he was also cursed with their weaknesses. Like many great leaders, his short-coming was his short-sightedness. He saw one view and refused to see another. James was the kind of man who could lead an empire to greatness, and yet not keep them there.   
  
James continued to glare at Albus then finally exasperated by his silence he slammed his open palm on the old mans desk.

"You are the headmaster of a school. Teen pregnancy should not be condoned. It will only give teenagers the sign that it is all right when it isn't. They are just kids. Children bearing children. Being responsible for a life should not be undertaken by kids who can not even be responsible enough for their own."   
  
For a moment Albus just looked at James, his sharp eyes gazing at him, unflinching.

"James. From what I have seen —and trust me, in my many years I have seen much—I know that maturity is not defined by age. Maturity is not the product of growing older, but that of growing wiser."

His blue orbs pierced into James' own defiant eyes.

"I have known people who, even with all their years and experiences, have failed when it comes to raising another life. Raising a child is up to the person. Your age has nothing to do with it."  
  
A silence descended the room as the younger adults pondered those words.   
  
"What are we going to do about this pregnancy?"  
  
Lucius' head whipped up as he heard Lily's words.

"What do you mean 'we'?" he glared. "Since when have you been part of this?"  
  
"Since that child your boy is carrying is my grandson."  
  
"It wasn't too long ago that your husband was denying this baby was your son's," Lucius spat.   
  
"It is better to be safe then sorry," James snarled.   
  
Lucius turned to James at his words. The two men just glared at each other for a few moments until an exasperated Dumbledore broke them apart once more.

"Gentlemen, please! This foolishness is unfit for the Lords of the Potter and Malfoy houses. You are wizarding nobility. Please act like it!"  
  
James and Lucius turned to the headmaster, blinking at him in shock.   
  
Never had they seen Dumbledore loose his cool. Not even when he was faced with unruly children. Dumbledore's hard stare caused them to squirm. In that glance, they were reminded just who was the most powerful wizard alive. The only wizard that could make Voldemort himself quake in fear.   
  
"Thank you for complying, gentlemen. Now, without your pointless bickering, a decision about these events can be found."  
  
Lily glared at the two in annoyance. "The baby. What are we going to do about it?"  
  
Narcissa turned to Lucius. "I say we take Draco away from here. To France. To one of Malfoy estates there."  
  
Lucius opened his mouth to respond, but was cut of by a hard voice. "No"   
  
Albus could not let them take Draco away from here, could not let them destroy what those two young men had found, could not let them rob them of their happiness any further. He owed Harry at least that much. Albus still felt guilty for the life that he felt Harry should have had. The life that could have been had Albus not dragged his parents into the war as key members in the Order of the Phoenix. A life that could still have been if he had spoken to Lily and James instead of standing on the side lines and watching them retreat further away from their only son.   
  
"You may not take Draco away from here," Dumbledore again spoke, voice as hard as steel.  
  
Narcissa looked at him, shocked. "And why not? He is our son."  
  
"Your son is very frail, Narcissa. You know the state of his health. Draco is not the kind of young man who possesses the ideal heath that would be considered safe for a pregnancy. Add to his heath his youth, and the results may not be good if this whole thing is taken lightly. No strain can come to him during this pregnancy or else it may prove fatal to him and the baby."  
  
"That is another reason why we should move him."  
  
"Narcissa, I know you are a smart woman. A Ravenclaw to the core, so I know you saw how Harry and Draco are very much in love. How do you think Draco will react when you tear them apart? It will only provide unnecessary stress for him. Any sort of strain is very dangerous at this time. Draco is only about a month into the pregnancy. The risk factor is still high."   
  
"I will not leave my son here," Narcissa glared. "For goodness sake, it is this school's lack of care that has resulted into this mess. They were making drugs in the common rooms, Albus! You heard what Draco said!"  
  
"Draco would be safer here with Harry."  
  
"Well, if that boy is what he needs then we will bring the brat with him."

"No way is that going to happen," James growled. "I will not let my son set foot in Malfoy territory. Ever."  
  
Before Narcissa could answer, Lucius spoke. "Narcissa, this is probably for the best. Draco will receive care here from someone that is very familiar with his health history."  
  
"Lucius, we can send for Doctor Miles. He has been treating Draco for years!"  
  
"Doctor Miles was Draco's doctor when he was a boy. A boy he is no longer." Lucius said, with the heavy voice of a man who had just realized that he can not hold onto his children forever. 

"Keep him here, Narcissa. We can use this time to make arrangements and decide on what to do. He will be safer here during the earlier stages of pregnancy."  
  
Narcissa looked like she was about to cry. "No matter how disappointed I am at Draco for getting himself into this mess, I must be with him during this time."  
  
Lucius gave her a sad smile and brushed his hand over her soft cheek. "I think right now sweetheart, we need to give Draco space. We shall come back after the first trimester is over."   
  
"He is just a boy, Lucius."  
  
"He is our son. He is strong."  
  
Narcissa sniffed and retreated into Lucius' embrace. "Okay. If that is what you want to do, then I agree. I trust you."  
  
Dumbledore smiled at Narcissa and Lucius.

"You are making the right decision. I promise you. Your son will be safe."

He then turned to James and Lily.

"What of the two of you? You will leave the boys be, as they are, and come back to make a decision in a couple of months?"  
  
James eyes narrowed. "I do not know about this. Leaving Harry here with the Malfoy boy."  
  
Lily took James hand. "It is probably for the best darling," she told him. "The child growing within the young Malfoy is a Potter, too. That child is Harry's child. His first child. Regardless of who the other parent is, that child is our grandchild."  
  
"Lily… "

"James, just take it as it comes."  
  
James was silent for a couple of moments. Until finally, without looking at any of the other occupants in the room, he nodded his consent.   
  
"Very well. Would any of you like to go and see your children, and say goodbye?"  
  
Lily looked at James and then shook her head. "No. Perhaps that is not such a good idea after everything that just happened."  
  
Narcissa sniffed and shook her head. Her voice muffled as her face was still hidden within the folds of her husband's robes. 

"I can't face Draco right now Lucius. Let's just leave a message that we are leaving."  
  
"All right Narcissa. It is probably for the best."   
  
"Very well. I shall send a message to each of your children tomorrow that you have left Hogwarts."

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James and Lily were walking through the empty halls of Hogwarts, eager to escape from the confines of its walls and the events that had happened within. Not a soul could be seen walking through the corridors, not a child could be seen sneaking out in search for the kitchens, not a teacher could be seen patrolling, so late was it in the night.   
  
Lily's voice was echoing through the halls as she voiced her worries about her son. Harry's words to Narcissa, after young Draco had left the office, stuck in her mind. A part of her could not help but not ignore the reality that part of those words may have been directed at her. She wasn't sure, and yet the look in those emerald orbs, as he gazed into her eyes as he said the last hurtful words, haunted her.   
  
_I know I will not make the mistake with my son that you have all made with us. I will not make the mistake of being a failure of a parent_

His wordskept echoing in her mind.   
  
To her husband, she voiced these thoughts. Her husband just kept walking, a mask of indifference on his face.   
  
"Don't worry about it, Lily. He is just acting up."  
  
"James-"  
  
"Lily, just don't."

"He was looking at us as he said those words James! He was looking at us as he said he was not going to make the mistake that had already been made. He was not going to make the mistake of being a failure of a parent."  
  
"Look, Lily. Don't let the words of our teenage son get to you. You know what teenagers are like. They are always playing the 'I'm a victim of the world' act. They expect you to be there whenever they need you, but just push you away when they don't want you there."   
  
"James, I don't think-"  
  
"On top of all that," James said, raising his voice to drown out his wife. "Our son has obviously been brainwashed by the Malfoy boy. Just forget about it, Lily."  
  
James turned around and proceeded to walk away. For a moment, Lily just stood where he had left her, watching his back as his form walked on, his footsteps never faltering, his head never turning to see whether his wife had followed.

**

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**Additional declaimer:**

These quotes were used either directly or as an inspiration for lines in the chapter.

"Love isn't passion, and passion isn't love."  
-- by unknown

'Maturity isn't a product of growing older; it's a product of growing wiser'

-- by Ann Landers

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'…deep in her heart she knew that love was fate and could never be changed'

-- Rouge in the battle, by Jynx

"That emotion [love] knows no age Virgina."

-- Serpent's Bride, by reiko naoe

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**Authors Note:**

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Yes I'm mean, I'm evil and I'm horrible for making you guys wait so long for this. I'm really sorry for the lateness and I know you all hate me for it, but university deadlines are a killer.

Thanks to my incredible beta reader Allesa this whole story has been beta read from this chapter to the ones that come before it. I have been overloading her with work and she has been nothing but brilliant in her response. She works so fast!

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**Sheree –** Thanks for dampening my fear on using OC on my characters. I agree with you Harry is a bit of a wimp in a lot of stories. But I can never see him as that. Harry has proven himself in the cannon books as possessing a strong character. As for Draco I can never forget how he ran way during the Forbidden Forest scene in the first book. I'm not making Draco truly weak, but I'm making him human.

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**RosieR –** Rosie who ever you are I have to thank you. Please keep on reading and know that your words were much appreciated.

**drama-queen8** – It'll be raining tears! You know I never meant to make this story so angsty. In fact when I was thinking it up in my head I thought it was too fluffy. But when I wrote it down this was the result. Recently I took a quiz that told you what kind of writer you are and I got angst. Damn even internet quizes are directing me towards that path. But I promise there will be joy in this as well. :D

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**Sowen –** You really think I'm a brilliant writer?! Wow thanks! I admit I'm a bit insecure about my writing. Thanks for saying I have a great incite on people. When I write characters I like to give them depth. They will have their weaknesses and they will have their strength. When I write I always think 'will people really react to something like that, will people really say or feel that'. I put a lot of thinking time into getting into their heads. Thinking time that I should be listening to my lecturer ;). So thank you. I know now that it was time well spent.

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**Oracale –** Thank you! I think your awesome too for reviewing.

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**eminem4eva –** Do you still don't care that this post is late? =D I hate making you readers wait. As a reader myself I know how frustrating that can be. Thanks for saying that it was perfect I was worried about how that chapter would be taken. And don't worry I'll continue till the end.

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**Harryeta –** Thanks for saying that! I had wanted to take a different approach on the HP characters and the H/D relationship. Your review just told me I had succeeded! Hay! Thanks for reading even if it's a little too angsty for you. Much appreciated. And don't worry about your English. It's good. I'm not from an English speaking background myself.

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**fowler Nsow –** Thank you! As for hoping the parents will eventually understand? Well they will do what they do.. hehe.. I'm not going to give a clue as to what they will do or whether they will understand. Only time will tell.

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**Tygrressatheart –** You're right about he Malfoy's coming around sooner then the Potter's. They are truly loving parents. Yeah I know...poor Harry and Draco. I feel bad about making them go through this, but for the sake of the plot so be it. As for getting the bold to work on FF…well I always just save my posts on a html file and upload it on FF. The bold miraculously stays. But I think you can easily do bold now right? What with these new upgrades that FF is going through.

**Lady Laffs-a-Lot –** Thanks! I don't like Harry when he is perfect either. I think that Harry is just human and like all human's he will have his flaws. I hate stereotypes. Just because Harry is a Gryffindor does not mean that he is all pure and perfect. As you may see I try to stay away from stereotypes.

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**Psychotic Pen –** Are you serious about this story being one of your faves? Thanks that mean heaps to me! Sorry this post is so late…

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**Hitome –**Another reviewer who just indicated that I had accomplished my goal. Making a H/D Mpreg story as unique as possible. Thanks for your words. =D

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**Crimson –** For some reason that only FF knows I only got your review now. I wish I had gotten it earlier. I wasn't sure whether you spell it Lily or Lilly, and to be honest I was to lazy to check.

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**Stardust –** Amazing you say? Well your amazing for reading it. I'm glad you like how I portrayed Harry and Draco. I feel bad for them too. I hurt for them actually. To write them I have to put myself in their heads to understand how they will act and respond to things. And trust me that is really tiring.

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**a-yolanda13 –** Thanks! I made this AU because I love the "What if?" concept. I have always been fascinated with the impact of Lily and James death. I wanted to explore how Harry's life would be like with them there. In this I wanted to expresses that if Lily and James were alive it does not mean they would have been the perfect parents. It could be quiet the contrary. With Lily and James I tried to break another stereotype.

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**PixieStar1 –** Wow great response! Thank you so much! I wanted a fic as original as possible and this is what I got. With Lily and Narcissa I wanted to make them different. This story is my experiment. An experimental plot line and experimental character takes. Thank you for volunteering to be my beta reader, but sorry that stop has now been taken. I appreciate it though and thanks for saying that this fic has potential.

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**Julianna5 –** Thanks for saying that this is a wonderful story. Fundamentally this is a love story. But with love their is also the sadness. It is unavoidable. Nothing is perfect and I wanted to portray that. Thanks for saying I blended love and sadness together well!

**Isis-mystic –** hehe..yeah I loved that too. I really wanted to fit a scene where Harry expresses his love for Draco. And Narcissa was being a bitch so I made Harry yell at her. She needed someone to tell her off!

**SilverDragon161 –** LoL. THANK YOU! Are you sure you're talking about my story still? Hehe..I love your review. You actually sound like a writer. I tried to express the beauty of Harry and Draco's love in this. I wanted to make the story beautiful. Thanks for saying it is.

**Sheree –** Don't worry Shree you did review my story before. Unless that was someone else going by the same name. You got how I see and want to portray Harry in this story down pat! Don't worry you can make your reviews as long as you want. Only stop when it feel right. Keep ranting about how you see Harry. It shows me that people can actually see the layers in his character that I tried to express and my thinking has not gone to waste. I like leaving reviews as long as your too.


	8. Keeping Distance

Title: You and I

Author: Mage

Rating: R

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CHAPTER SEVEN: _Keeping Distance_

Harry woke feeling heavy and weak. He frowned for a moment, not understanding why he felt like this. Then the events of last night in Dumbledore's office surfaced in his mind. He winced. He was not looking forward to seeing either of his or Draco's parents again.   
  
_Draco. _  
  
The thought of Draco brought a smile onto Harry's face. Images of what they had done late last night replacing the memories of the office confrontations. Late last night, here in Draco's room, had been intense. _Never had it ever been so…_

Harry couldn't even mold his thoughts around what last night was like. Coming back from Dumbledore's office they had met here, in this very bed that Harry now rested, and for the rest of the night they focused on each other. The physical encounter was highly emotional. More intense then any of their previous intimate encounters. It was like in that very act, they where trying to say without words how much they loved each other. That feeling of love, accompanied by all the raw emotions that they were feeling that night (desperation, lost, hurt…) made for a highly charged encounter.   
  
_Indescribable. _  
  
Harry groaned, stretching his limbs to get those delicious kinks that were a result of his late night activity, out of his body. With movement finally coming back to his body, Harry instinctively reached over to his left. But instead of his hand meeting warm flesh, all he grasped was a soft pillow. Frowning, Harry finally willed his tired eyes to open. Blearily, he looked over to where Draco should be sleeping, but his sight did not meet the usual angelic beauty that greeted him almost every morning. Where Draco should have been sleeping, there was nothing but a pillow.   
  
Worried, Harry got up and looked at the cloak. _6 am._ Draco was never much of a morning person. He never woke up this early. Still frowning, Harry gave a yawn and pulled himself out of the warm bed to search for his boyfriend.   
  
Upon stepping out of the bedroom door, Harry was greeted with the object of his search. Draco looked majestic standing by the window of the sitting room. The early morning rays of the sun shimmered on his pale skin, making it seem as if he was glowing with an internal light. His usually pale blond hair, that could be considered more white or silver then the yellow color of blond locks, looked golden in the sunlight. He looked like some god born of the dawn. Truly majestic.   
  
Harry smiled at the sight. He could never understand what he did to deserve this.   
  
Walking up to Draco, he wrapped his arms around him from behind. Draco stiffened, not turning around to face Harry. Harry looked down at him, unsure of what was wrong with Draco.

"Draco? What's wrong?"  
  
Yet no answer came from the blond that was still rigid in his arms. Draco merely continued to gaze out the window, not turning around in Harry's embrace to look at his lover standing behind him.   
  
"Dray? Baby? What's wrong? Please talk to me."   
  
Finally, Draco turned around to face Harry. Harry almost stepped back at what he saw. Instead of dazzling silver eyes, looking up at him with an open love, he was looking into cold grey pools, gazing at him in indifference.  
  
Harry was taken aback at the sight. What the hell was this? He couldn't understand it. This was Draco standing before him, yet it wasn't. This wasn't his Draco. This was Malfoy. The boy that had been his rival during his early years in Hogwarts. The boy with the cold grey eyes and the hardened attitude.   
  
Harry brought his arms from around Draco's waist and grasped his upper arms, looking deep into his eyes. What he saw in their depths caused him to panic. Harry knew Draco better then he knew himself, so it was easy for him to understand what he was seeing in those brilliant glass orbs. He could see a wall there. A wall that he thought he never had to encounter again.   
  
"Draco, what's going on? Please. What's wrong?"   
  
Draco face showed no reaction to Harry's clearly growing panic. He continued to merely gaze at him with his Malfoy mask firmly in place.   
  
"Draco!?" Harry yelled desperately, shaking him slightly.   
  
Draco just shook his head and stepped out of reach. With one final look, the Slytherin turned around and walked out the portrait hole.   
  
Harry stood frozen in shock for several minutes. What the hell just happened? Harry closed his eyes. The only thing that was stopping the tears from escaping was what he had seen before Draco disappeared through the portrait hole. The Malfoy pose had wavered for a moment and Draco had ducked his head, his pearly teeth grasping lower lip.

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Harry was sitting at the Gryffindor table that evening, lazily picking at his food and watching the students trickle in. He hadn't seen Draco all day and he was suffering from a major case of what Terry called "Missing Draco Syndrome."  
  
He sighed. If only his friends knew why he was so on edge, they won't be laughing it off. He wanted to tell them. He needed to talk this through with someone but… 

By Merlin! This is fucking complicated! He mentally growled in frustration. _Why can't everything with Draco ever be clear and simple? Why do I even bother with this shit? Damn it! Why do I do this to myself? Why do I need him so badly? Why-_  
  
Harry's mental rant was disrupted by loud giggles from some of the girls in the hall. He looked up and discovered the reason.   
  
Draco Malfoy.   
  
The blond Slytherin had just strutted into the room, looking cool and elegant as ever. With a poise and grace born of nobility, he walked up to the Slytherin table and took a seat at its centre.   
  
The Prince of Slytherin had just graced them with his presence.   
  
Looking at Draco, Harry could understand the girls' reaction to him. Draco was in his trademark dark attire, black wrapped entirely around his pale form. His heavy boots crashing loudly on the floor tiles, causing heads to turn at the sound. His heavy dark robes were open, billowing behind his form as he walked, kept those heads from turning back around.

Draco was a sight to behold indeed. Gorgeous. Dangerous. Sexy.   
  
Harry was snapped out of his thoughts by the sound of Denise Creevy's voice. 

"Hey Harry! Are you still with us? What were you staring at Malfoy for?"

The Creevy boy was grinning at him maniacally. "Are you thinking of another prank to play on the evil prat? What are you going to do to him, Harry?"  
  
Harry just stared at the annoying little Gryffindor, mentally picturing his ugly head exploding. He wanted to punch the little shit for that insult about Draco, but he forced himself to smile instead. After all, he had an illusion to uphold. The illusion of the legendary rivalry between Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy, still burning with the heat of hell. There was no point destroying that now. There were just too many things they had to deal with right now to have the whole school getting into their business.   
  
"Yes, Dennis. There is something very wicked I want to do to Malfoy," Harry said, his eyes dark and sparkling with mischief. "I would tell you, but I think you're a little young."  
  
"Oh, come on, Harry," he whined. "Tell me. Show me how to do it. I want to learn how."   
  
"I'm sorry, but it's a private showing. Just between me and Malfoy." Harry smirked.   
  
Dennis sighed, looking dejected. "Okay, Harry, but make it good."  
  
"Oh, don't worry Dennis, I promise I'll do him good. I never fail to make him scream."

Harry gave a smile dripping with innocence. He loved playing with the naïve little Gryffindors.  
  
Dennis gave a puzzled little frown, confused at what Harry meant.   
  
"Well, anyway Dennis, what did you want," Harry quickly said, changing the subject before the naive little Gryffindor actually caught on the double meaning of his words.  
  
"Oh! Here, Harry," Denise said, handing him a piece of parchment. "When I was passing the Headmaster in the hall this morning, he gave me this to hand to you. I've been looking everywhere for you, but I couldn't seem to find you anywhere all day."   
  
"I've been busy," Harry said dryly.   
  
"Fine," Dennis shrugged. "Well, here it is now."  
  
Before Harry could answer him a shrill voice call out.

"Hey Dennis, aren't you going to sit with us?" called a freckled faced little blond that Harry knew was in Dennis' year.   
  
"Yeah, I'll be there in a minute!" Dennis called back.  
  
Turning back to Harry, he was about to say something more, but was cut of by the older boy.

"Go on Dennis. Go sit with your friends."  
  
Dennis gave him a goodbye and took off running.   
  
Harry watched him go. The boy was annoying to say the least, but he was fun to play with. Harry had needed that distraction and momentary amusement to get his mind out of the depressing thoughts they had contained all day.   
  
He gave a small sigh and looked down at the parchment that Dennis Creevy had given him. Unfolding it, he read the swirling text printed on its surface.   
  
**_Harry, your parents left last night. _**  
  
Harry looked at the simple message and just shook his head. _Typical they didn't even bother to tell me themselves._

Harry's face twisted into an ugly scowl and he crumbled the parchment, throwing it down on the table in annoyance.   
  
"What's wrong, Harry? Been told something you don't like?" Neville asked from the seat next to him.   
  
"No, Nev. More like not being told something by people I'd like."

Nev arched a fine dark eyebrow. Without a word, the boy turned to the discarded parchment and read its context. 

"Your parents didn't tell you they were leaving?"  
  
"Since when have my parents given enough of a damn about me to even fit a simple goodbye into their busy schedule?" came Harry's bitter reply.   
  
"Harry, your parents care about you. I'm sure that finding out about you and Dray just overwhelmed them."  
  
"I'd like to believe that excuse Nev, and probably this time it's true, but since when have they ever cared enough about me to even bother. You know what they're like, Neville. Their work has always come before me."

Neville looked around, before leaning in to whisper to Harry. "Harry, that work is Order work. What your parents and my parents do is important."  
  
"And I can understand that, but it never stopped your mum and dad from being parents to you, did it? Shit, Neville, half the time I feel like a stranger in their midst. It never used to be like this. I remember when I was a little kid. I remember what it was like. I remember what they use to tell me. They made all these promises. I used to believe them back then. But now I'm no longer a little kid and my parents are no longer who they use to be."  
  
"Harry, what your parents have seen and done…it leaves marks on people. I know it left marks on my parents. They have fought in a war, for Merlin's sake. They had to harden themselves to survive. And sometimes, old habits are not easily broken. Especially now that we're in the middle of a second war."  
  
Harry looked at one of his oldest friends. There was a part of him that understood the truth in his words. The first war had left a mark on all that had seen it and those marks were only deeper for those that fought within it. Thinking about it, he saw the pattern. A part of him knew that his friend was right, but resentment left a bitter taste in his mouth. Being pushed away for far too long by the very people who were suppose to love him, unconditionally, hurt far too much to be forgotten in an instant.   
  
Harry had barely been a one year old child when the Dark Lord was defeated during the end of first war. So, like the rest of his generation, his childhood was spent in a world basking in the peace that had been won for them. The wizarding world had busied itself with rebuilding, putting the past and all the horrors it had contained behind them. But now it seemed that all they had built, and all they had suffered for, was for nothing. During Harry's first year at Hogwarts, the Dark Lord had risen again. The leaders of the old Order of the Phoenix were called to take their seats in the council once more, and all its warriors took up arms once again. Harry's parents had been among these people.   
  
When Harry had come back from Hogwarts that year, his parents had been different. Distant. As the summer ended and Harry was to come back to Hogwarts for his second year, he knew that what he had had with his parents before was gone. Another casualty in a war that seemed to never end.   
  
"Harry, you've got to sort through this. They are your parents."  
  
Harry turned fully to face Neville. "They just gave me life, but they never helped me live it. They are not my parents. Family is determined by a lot more then blood."

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**Additional declaimer:**

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These quotes were used either directly or as an inspiration for lines in this chapter.

'…they learn that family is defined by more then blood…'

-- As Thick as Blood, by Lisse

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**momma-dar –** I'm glad to see that my story seems to have all the things you like in a fic. I'll tell you a secret. I wrote this fic for me. All the things I put in it are all the things I've always wanted to see in a fanfic.

**Sowen –** I always love your reviews Sowen! I'm so happy you like the parents response. I admit that this chapter was hard to write. I rewrote it actually. I had to make sure that their responses was just right. I don't think that anyone is perfect and I like to reflect that in my characters. I love Gryffindor's. Really I do. But at times I hate how they seem to think that all Slytherin's are evil Death Eaters. When they think this I can't help but think that they are as prejudiced as the very people that they despise.

**Toby7 –** Thank you Toby! I wish that I have the time to finish this soon. If only the world would let me I would sit and just write all day. But according to my friends that's kinda creepy.

**Blackunicorn –** I've been waiting for someone to ask about the baby :D. Well there is a clue (so to say) on the baby's gender in the chapters all ready provided. But if you get it, and no body else does, keep quiet - because shhhh it's a secret ;) hehe. As for how many children they will have…well…that will be decided with a flip of a coin.

**Tygrressatheart –** Lily is starting to feel horrible. The reality of what her family has become is just starting to sink in. I have known that at times parents blind themselves to the true reality of their relationship with their children. I wanted to expresses that in James. I wanted to show that if he were alive he does not necessarily have to be the perfect father that many envision him to be.

**da-blk-saiyangurl –** One of the best you've read in a long time?! Really? You mean it? Wow… now it's my turn to say wow to you. Your review just made me cheer. Thanks for saying that.

**Lady Laffs-a-Lot –** Yeah I know. James really is close minded isn't he? If he was my husband he would be facing the power of my wrath. But Lily is still a little confused. She has a lot on her mind. Whether she leaves James or not will be revealed with time.

**SheWolfe7 –** Thanks! Sometimes parents do need to be knocked in the head. They're not perfect. No body really is. You got exactly what I wanted to express in this story. So many believe that if James and Lily were still alive they would be perfect parents. But in reality (as you said) "Some parents never really see their kids for what they are." You will later see the reason for Harry holding out so long, even with his parents been such asses.

**SilverDragon161 --** starts jumping up and down I knew it, I knew it! You are a writer. You're writing "Mistakes"! I love that fic. I have this list for fics I just have to review and that fic is on it. Sorry I haven't gotten to reviewing yet, but I will. Your story is great. I love your characterisation.

Anywayz…enough of my childish acts. I'm glad you understand what the parents are going through. I wanted to make them as real as I could in their reactions and relationships with their children. Both as parents raising children in a war torn world and as normal parents raising teenagers.

**Helena –** Sorry about that. I know how you feel. When I really get into a story and it just stops I just want to punch the computer. But I hope this chap removes the pout from your face. Oh wait a minute… looks up at post… you're most likely hating me.

**Shyla-of-slytherin –** Shyla! I just got your first review from chapter 3! I'm so sorry. Bloody FF.net. Sometimes I don't see someone review until later posts. Thank you for reading my fic. Your bloody awesome yourself! You've been with me almost from the beginning!****

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**stargirl2004 –** Here is some more. Hope you like it. I'm glad you like the intensity. I write like I'm on a roller coaster ride. I love the rush and intensity. Glad people are noticing.

**Leeanna-Marie-Malfoy –** Thank you, thank you, thank you! Reviews like yours just make me want to dance. Not to mention keep on writing.

**Freddysgurl8904 –** hehe…I know I love James too! I want him to be cool, but I started writing this fic during my "Slytherin's are sexy" stage. I was getting annoyed with how Gryffindor's are portrayed as all good and holly. I began to notice by them stereotyping the Slytherin's that they were just as prejudiced as the serpents.

**Galyn –** I was feeling really tiered from traveling back from school one day and then I turned on my computer and saw your review. It just made me smile and want to write more. If you get through all the chapters at once then I must be doing something right. I do that with stories I really love. Thank you so much for your review. It made me feel better.


	9. My Armour

Title: You and I

Author: Mage

Rating: R

Dedication:

To Allesa

My beta reader.

For her patience, encouragement and lighting fast work.

And for sharing her Slytherin obsession.

Inspiration:

This was inspired by the song written for teenagers by teenagers.

"Underneath this armour… the warrior is a child."

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CHAPTER EIGHT: _My Armour_

It had been a week since the confrontation at the office, a week since their parents had found out about the baby, a week since their physical encounter in the Slytherin's room.  
  
A week since he had last spoken to Draco.

Harry had tried everything he could think of to speak to Draco, yet when he managed to catch him in those rare moments when he was alone in the halls, all he did was walk away when he saw Harry coming. Harry just couldn't understand what in Merlin's name was going on with him. He couldn't understand why he was avoiding him, why he refused to speak to him. Was it something he did? Was it something he said? He just didn't know any more.   
  
Draco seemed to be trying, with as much effort as Harry was using to speak to Draco, to avoid him in return. As a result, classes had been a nightmare. He had had double potions with the Slytherins. Typical of a normal lesson with Snape, it had been a episode of sheer and utter humiliation that only the greasy slimy potions master could bring to Harry's life. To make it worse, Draco had not been there to kiss it better in the end.   
  
Double potions, like all the years before, had been the last class of the day. Harry had waited in their normal spot after potions, where they would always meet after these lessons. In that place, Draco would help to piece together Harry's shattered ego. At first it had just been an excuse to snog, but as time passed and their relationship grew, it was in these little meetings that they would catch up with each other. Their relationship had always been hidden from everyone. It wasn't until a couple of months back that their own friends even knew about them. So it was through these little secret moments that they would talk to each other, support each, and just be together. It was during these private moments that they truly grew close; emotionally and physically.  
  
Harry had waited until dinner for Draco.   
  
Frustrated, Harry bolted up into a sitting position and buried his face in his hands. Only Draco could ever do this to him.   
  
Glancing out of the dorm windows, he realized that dawn was just breaking. He sighed, knowing that there was no point in trying to get any more sleep. Rising, he pattered over to his trunk and pulled out a shimmering silver cloak. He whirled the cloak around him and in an instant he vanished from view.

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Harry was walking through the darkened corridors of Hogwarts, letting his feet be his guide. His mind was in no state to do so, so far away were his thoughts. Suddenly he ceased his mindless wandering, and looked up at the place where his feet had taken him. He gave a small groan as he realized where he had ended up. It seemed that a part of his mind was still very much in control, as he found himself in the one place his heart had wanted to avoid. His and Draco's meeting place.   
  
A part of him wanted to run back to the safety of Gryffindor tower and forget that his body had betrayed him by taking him to this place. _Their _place. Even his subconscious sought out Draco, so ingrained in his being the other boy was. An inkling of shame weeded its way to his heart. He felt somehow weak in the realization that the other boy made up so much of him. He felt vulnerable in the knowledge that someone could hold so much control over his very being. He wanted to just climb up the stairs that lay before him, to the place high in their tower, where he and Draco used to just be together. The part of him that felt cold and empty, with the knowledge that his lover had shut him out, wanted to be filled with the warmth of memory that the walls of the tower held. He wanted to go up there, he wanted to be there, but his pride would not let him. That part of him that was a remainder of the person he had been, before Draco, would not let him. The boy that had felt abandoned by his parents, the young man that would tell himself he didn't need anyone, the person who swore that he would never be hurt again, just couldn't climb those stairs. He thought that somehow he would be betraying his pride, which seemed to be all the armour he had at this moment.   
  
His pride kept him rooted to the spot, accompanied by the ghost of indecision. As he stood there for what seemed like many life times, a whisper of a memory from a long ago past swept through his mind. He saw a beautiful young girl with hair like the tongues of flame and the eyes of someone that seemed far too old for all her vision of youth. Those eyes that were looking at him with knowledge and experience. 

"If you can not risk your pride for him, Harry, then you are not worthy of the gift of love that you two may later share."

Harry closed his eyes against the memory. It had been that girl that had given him the strength to peruse Draco those years ago; it had been she that had told him to vanquish his pride, for all it did was paralyze him. It was this girl and the knowledge that she had bestowed that later lead to so much happiness. And it was within this memory that he found the strength to fight his pride and follow that reflex that sought to fill that missing part of him.   
  
He knew it was better to just walk away, he was only torturing himself with the memories that this place held. Yet he could no more walk away then he could stop his heart from beating. As if he was possessed by a force greater then himself, he found himself climbing the stairs of North-East Tower, his body moving easily towards a higher destination, while his heart screamed for him to stop.   
  
As he reached the highest room in the tower, his eyes instantly drew to the place that they had first made love, above conjured silken sheets on the polished wooden floors. He quickly closed his mind to the flash of memory and the images that came with it.

Hurriedly he walked past the spot and made a beeline to the creaky metal stairs that lead up to the highest reach of this disused tower. As he stepped out into the open, he closed his eyes against the brightness of the coming dawn, and just let the cool wind wash over him, ruffling his fine dark hair. Then he heard something that caused his eyes to snap open. A ragged intake of breath had sounded above the whistling of the wind. Sweeping his gaze around the tower, he discovered its source. There, perched above the low parapet that lined the edges of the tower's rim, was the one source of all his recent anguish.   
  
Draco.   
  
The silvery haired Slytherin had obviously not heard him coming up, as he was still facing towards the lake side view. Harry stood there and watched him for a moment, drinking in the vision that he made. To long had he been denied these kinds of moments, where the world itself seemed to stop and he could just loose himself in the moment where only he and Draco existed. But, like all moments, it could not last forever. This was his chance to face Draco, figure out what was wrong with him, and demand an answer to the question of where it was they stood.   
  
Taking a step towards where the silvery god sat, he spoke.

"Draco."

Harry internally winced at the sound of his voice. He had wanted his voice to be strong and cool, not holding a single indication of the storm of emotions that he felt inside. Yet as the name left his lips, the yearning that echoed in his voice could be heard as clear as day. The word a mere breath in the air.   
  
Draco turned towards him. "Harry..."

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The word seemed to slip from his mouth like a whispered wish. Draco's head had snapped up at the sound of his name. His bright silver eyes had widened at the sight of the person that stood by the entrance.

What is he doing here? He is not supposed to be here?

Panicking Draco stood and moved to leave, but as he passed Harry, he felt a warm hand circle around his upper arm. Slowly, against his will, he found himself being turned around to face the owner of that warm hand. The still rational part of his mind told him to struggle and tear himself out of this hold, but as soon as that hand held him, he felt all control of his body leave him.   
  
"Draco, why are you doing this? Why do you keep walking away from me?"  
  
Draco didn't answer, refused to hear the hurt in that voice, refused to look up to meet the pain he knew was shining in those emerald eyes. Gathering his will, he kept his eyes diverted to the ground. His body had forsaken him, but he still had control of his sight.

Yet that stubborn thought lost its strength as he felt gentle fingers brush against his chin and lifted his face up. And there was his undoing, the emerald eyes whose power could bend his very will.

"Look at me when I talk to you, Draco. And answer my question. Don't you think I at least deserve that much?"  
  
Draco felt anger gather within him and he tore himself out of Harry's hold, moving back a few steps. 

"And what do I deserve Harry?! What am I worth?!" he asked fiercely.   
  
Harry looked confused. "What are you talking about, Draco?"  
  
Draco marched close to Harry and looked fiercely up at him.

"I'm not something to be accepted when I'm exactly as you want and then just be discarded when I'm no longer who you want me to be."  
  
"Draco, what is wrong with you. What in the world do you mean?" Harry asked desperately, grabbing hold of Draco's upper arm.   
  
"No! Don't touch me." Draco screamed, tearing his arm away from Harry's hold.   
  
"Draco, please. What is going on? Talk to me. You know I love you. I'll be here for you."

Harry pleaded with Draco to hear him, desperation and confusion bringing tears to gloss over his eyes.   
  
Draco just shook his head and stumbled back away from him.   
  
"Draco, I love you. What's wrong? Don't you love me any more?"   
  
Draco just let out a sob and fell on his knees on the stone floor; tears were leaking out of his tightly clutched eyes. Instinctively, Harry moved towards him, holding his small form with his arms. At first, Draco weakly resisted, until finally he just collapsed again Harry's hold, his only resistance the weak slamming of his fist against Harry's chest.   
  
"You don't love me. Love isn't real. Love isn't real." He repeated hysterically as he sobbed in Harry's arms.   
  
Harry merely held him, gently rocking him in an effort to calm. Then, as Draco seemed to lose all his energy and just tiredly lean against him, Harry lifted his hand to Draco's chin and gently lifted his head up to face him.  
  
"Love…"  
  
Draco shook his head. "No, no love. Love is not real." He whispered weakly.   
  
"Draco, of course it's real. Nothing in this world can ever be more real."  
  
Draco just sniffed and closed his eyes, resting his head against Harry's chest.

"People pretend that they love you and will never leave you, but they do. They leave…without even saying goodbye."

Harry's brow frowned as he contemplated the blonds words. Then his eyes widened as realization shone in them. His message from Dumbledore. Draco must have gotten one too. "Draco, your parents…?"  
  
"They left without saying goodbye. They said they would be there for me no matter what. They said that love was being there." he whispered. "They lied."  
  
"Draco, they do love you."   
  
Draco's head finally snapped up and he looked at Harry. "If they love me then why did they leave like that?"  
  
"Draco…"  
  
"No! They said it there at the meeting. Dad said he didn't love me. They hate me, Harry! They hate me. My family hates me…"  
  
"But, Draco, I don't hate you. I love you. I'll be here no matter what."  
  
Draco just shook his head, looking lost and anguished. 

"No. That is what they said. They said that and they lied. You'll just leave me too."  
  
"I'll never leave you," he said with such certainty that Draco felt the strength of the emotion shake through his very being. Yet he could not bring himself to acknowledge it.

He felt too lost and insecure. The people he had always thought to be there weren't. It hurt too much, and he didn't think that he could take another beating. Distance now would mean less pain later.   
  
"Yes, you will. There is no such thing as certainty. All things die eventually." Draco told him.   
  
"So, what, you think that by distancing yourself from me, nothing can hurt you any more?" Harry said fiercely.   
  
Draco flinched at Harry's fierce tone and narrowed eyes.

"You're a hypocrite, Draco. When we first got together I thought the same way. That distance meant that nothing can hurt me any more. And then you come along, and you told me that that wasn't the way, that I had to open myself up to you. And I did!"

"Harry, please…" Draco sobbed.   
  
"I gave everything to you, Draco. All that I was, and all that I will ever be," Harry continued as if Draco hadn't spoken. 

"And look what I get, when the same is called for you to do, you run and leave me in the dust, wondering what the fuck I had done, when it was all you. I thought we were equals, Draco. I thought we were the same."  
  
"Harry we are…"he whispered weakly.

"Then prove it. Talk to me."  
  
"I-I can't!" he yelled in anguish.  
  
"If you can't, and you keep on with this distance, then what are we, Draco? Are you leaving me?"  
  
Draco looked up at him, his eyes shining from the tears that wouldn't stop spilling from his eyes. He wanted to answer Harry, but the truth was, he didn't know the answer. Never in his life had he felt so lost. Never in his life had he felt so confused. He knew he needed Harry. That part of his mind and heart that was not clouded with the insanity of emotions, yelled this truth to him. Yet he couldn't bring himself to tell this boy that he needed him. It had hurt to much when the people that he had relied on his whole life, the people that he needed, treated him the way that they did. When they discarded him when he no longer fit into their estimation. He just wasn't strong. Not like Harry. He just wasn't a Gryffindor.   
  
"You don't even have the courage to decide. You can't even give me an answer. Well, damn you, Draco" Harry bellowed, standing up from his place on the ground and spilling the Slytherin from his arms.

"I love you so much that I could go insane with the emotion and this is all I get."  
  
Harry turned and walked toward the entrance that he had used to get here. Draco just sat on his knees on the cold floor, his open palm laying flat on the stone floor, the only thing keeping him up. He listened to the sound of Harry's boots clicking on the ground. The sound of his boyfriend walking away. The sound of love leaving.   
  
Draco took a deep breath and willed himself not to care. If he could do this now then he didn't have to face hurt later. Harry would only do to him as his parents did. They only loved the person that they wanted him to be and then when time brought about the consequences of change, and he was no longer that person, then the love that they spoke of became nothing but empty words holding empty promises.

I don't need him. I don't need anyone. He thought fiercely._ I don't need Harry Potter!!_  
  
"Shit, Draco. How do you do this to me?"   
  
Draco had been so focused on convincing himself of his conclusion that he hadn't noticed that the footsteps had stopped, or that the one making that sound had walked back and was now currently standing before his kneeling form.   
  
"I can't walk away from you without getting it through your thick skull how much you mean to me," Harry said.

His voice was strong and fierce, and his eyes shone with an emotion that Draco tried to ignore. Yet his heart knew it all to well, having seen it turned to him when Harry held him close, whispering words that told of the very truth that he had been tiring to deny.

"Draco, I've wanted you the moment I first saw you. And I have loved you since I first understood what love really meant."

Draco looked up at Harry. Whenever he thought that he could live without this boy, he would say something like this and his resolve would crumble and he could fool himself no longer. He could no more live without Harry Potter then he could live without air. This boy was the reason he lived. He was his soul. His heart. His everything.   
  
Draco had stood at the window for hours the morning after they had made love, gathering his courage. And all it took was a look and sweet words from Harry Potter and all he had built was destroyed.   
  
Draco tried to freeze his heart once more, determined to complete the pledge he had made that fateful morning, but when he felt soft lips brush against his own, he knew was destroyed. This felt too good, to right. Their lips melded together, fitting so perfectly. They fit together like this, fit so completely. How can this be wrong? How can he not risk himself for this…this feeling, this perfection, this completion?   
  
Harry lessened the pressure of his lips from Draco's, yet they were still close enough that their lips were pressed against each other in a whisper of a touch.

"I pleaded for this once, and I'll plead for it again," he breathed. "Let me love you, Draco."   
  
Draco felt a shiver run through him as he felt Harry's lips brush against his own lips as the other boy spoke. He knew those words, remembered them being spoken by a fourteen year old boy, pleading with him to give him a chance, asking him (perhaps unconsciously) to risk his heart. Now it was happening again, but this time the nervous fourteen year old boy was gone, and in his place was a profound young man.   
  
"You know, before you, I was so sure of everything. So sure of whom I was and where my life was going. Knew without a shadow of a doubt what I wanted with my life. I thought I had everything. I thought I was truly happy, but then you came along and showed me that you have never truly known happiness until you have known love," Draco whispered back against Harry's lips.  
  
"Is that your way of telling me you love me?" Harry quietly asked.   
  
Draco finally pulled away and opened his eyes. He looked deeply into Harry's eyes and willed him to see what he himself did not have the courage to voice.

"No. I'm just telling you how much."  
  
"Please, Draco, don't ever push me away again."

* * *

Author's Note:

Whoops…there are little bits of snappiness there. Now how did that get there. Sorry for that. I couldn't help it. Call me a romantic.

Well since you all asked about Draco so politely and no body had a tantrum (like I would have done if I was in your position) here is a little overview of Draco.

You've all been introduced to the person that Harry is here in this universe and now you will see more of who Draco is. The way I'm writing this (as you have probably noticed) is that I'm leaving them bare. I'm going to show you the very bottom of their being. If I have done my job right, by the end of this fic, you will know Draco and Harry better then they would have know themselves.

In a way **Draco's character** is a lot more complex then Harry. You have to understand first and forever that Draco was raised in a household where his parents loved him. Yes he understands the prejudices of the world, but when it comes to matters on a more personal level he is some what naïve as the young tend to be. Think of it this way. I'm guessing that most people face the world with a shield to protect themselves from hurt, but within "our own little world" (that consists of our personal lives with those we love) that shield tends to drop. This is the thing with Draco.

Think of a simplified Draco. Think of the Draco that ran screaming from the Forbidden forest, the Draco who jumps to extremes by hating a boy so fiercely for not shaking his hand, and the Draco who believes what he thinks is supreme. Think of these aspects of Draco and add it with the pregnancy hormones.

Now these are just my views people. You don't have to agree, but these are the outlines that I have used. And for the love of God please don't think him evil. He isn't. He is just a teenager that has found himself in a very adult situation that he is finding hard to deal with.

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inumoon3 – Thank you for reading this even though you don't like Draco's position :D. Someone had to be take the pregnant role. I'm tried of Harry doing it. I can never see him as that. Every time I see Harry I see the knight in shinning armour, that at twelve, killed a giant snake with a sword. But with Draco I can still bend my view of him to create this. I don't know what it is about him…maybe it's his pretty hair. Hehe. Sorry I answered your review so late. I just got it.

Sowen – You know it really hurt me to write that chapter. I know Draco is a was a complete idiot in that. I hope this chapter makes up for that little incident. But he's all sorted now. Did you ever doubt Harry persuasion skills? :D Thank you for saying that that chapter was brilliant! I really appreciate the sentiments. I was scared to post that chapter! I'm glad you liked it. I'll admit this only once…I was scared to open my reviews for that chap. Because if I wasn't he author and I was reading that…I would have had a tantrum. :D

NayNymic – Yeah Draco can be a complete jackass when he isn't thinking straight. But I figured that when people are all emotional they have a tendency to make rash decision. Many people don't make their best decisions when they are emotional.

stargirl2004 – Well in this chap and the next you'll realise what's wrong with Draco. No body knows that the two are dating because their families have a long standing rivalry that goes back generations. Mostly these days it just seeps into the whole prejudice thing that are placed on families like the Malfoy's. I actually had a whole section written out to explain this. It was to be part of 'Keeping Distance'. It actually introduces Harry's friends in that, but I hated it. I found it boring and just waffled on, so I took it out. Glad someone is interested enough in the story to read so closely =). I hope this chapter is exciting enough for your taste.

blackunicorn – Draco…well I wish I could just say that he is being a typical guy and just being an ass, but he has his reason. Everything in this fic has a reason for being there. :::point to chapter above::: Well here is Draco's reason. You didn't think I would leave you guys hanging for too long did you? :D As for there parents understanding…well…for that you will have to wait and jump through a lot of obstacles with Harry and Draco.

Lady Laffs-a-Lot – Draco isn't a cold Malfoy. Well at least not to those he cares about. Your probably the one to hit the closest to home with what's wrong with Draco. You were close, but not quiet right.

Romie – Thank you! Someone else who also believes that Gryffindor's have a holier-then-thou attitude and are just as prejudiced as the Slytherin :D. When I started writing this fic I was pissed off at some all too common views. I'm tried of seeing Lily and James portrayed as perfect parents. The reality is they may not have been. Yes it's obvious that they loved their son, but it takes a lot more then love to raise a child. Like care and attention. Yeah James hitting Draco was unforgivable. I agree. When I formed his character for this fic I thought about Snape's memory of him in his pensive. That has always fascinated me. I think what he did to Snape there was quiet unforgivable. Thank you so much for your long review. I loved it!

SailorBaby16 – Thank you.! I'm glad you like my story! It makes me happy :D. Yeah parents reactions can be shocking. I wanted to show that they aren't perfect. You'll find that no character in this fiction is perfect. They will have to be taken as they are even with all their flaws. What will happen with Harry and Draco you ask…well you will have to continue reading to find out :D. I will tell you this, that I have always viewed their characters as very passionate…isn't it only natural that that will also applly to the way they love?

iamtheoneandonly – Thank you so much! Hehe…yeah I know my chapters are pretty short. I try to make them longer, but time is such a valuable thing, and like with everything valuable, it is very rare. I wish I had time to write longer chaps. I'll try.

Galyn – Hi again! It's okay. I understand that you may not always be able to review. Just keep reading and I'll be happy :).

Helena – LoL. As a fanfic reader I understand your frustration. Yes authors can be so evil by leaving you hanging. Now that I'm a writer myself I know why they do it. It's so much fun! ;) :D. Thanks for reading!

someonesgurl – :D. Thank you! Thank you! What's wrong with Draco you ask… you figure 'he was pissed at Harry for his (Draco's) parents reaction'…well not quiet :). Draco's complicated mind is going to start to become clear. Just keep reading Ash, and thank you for bothering with my story.

CrazyForYou – :D. Thanks! I'm glad you love my story so far. I hope you continue to love it. Here's the next chap. Hope it meets you expectations :D.

SilverDragon161 – Now, now, no need for modesty :D. Who wouldn't love your story? As for Draco…well you know him… always jumping to extremes. I can never see Draco sitting down all placid. Add his usual nature with hormones and well…you know what happened.

Moonglaze – "It's the best romance story I've ever read!" quote

:: jaw drops:: Really?!?! Oh I love you!! Thank you for saying that! It made me do a little dance. And considering I don't dance your review has just officially achieved the impossible. Thank you for your kind words and letting me know I'm doing the romance right. Even though I splash it with angst. I have always loved first loves. It's so cute. :D

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Thank you all for your reviews and those who put me on their fave lists. You're the reason I bother to continue this fic and try to make it the best I can. Sorry for making you wait so long. I actually had this chapter finished with 'Keeping distance', but I never post anything until the chapter after is complete. And I'll tell you the chapter after this was really hard to write.

I will _always_ reply to your reviews people. But for some people I tend to get their reviews chapters later. Sorry for that. It's either fault or my stupid computer (which I would like to note seems to hate me). If you don't see a response to your review I'm really sorry, but I'll respond to it when I get it.


	10. The Colour Red

Title: You and I

Author: Mage

Rating: R

* * *

CHAPTER NINE: The Colour Red "or" _Under the Armour_

__

Days later Harry found himself lying in Draco's bed gazing at the slumbering boy by his side. Harry watched in fascination as the light of the full moon streaked through the window and danced through pale hair. He watched as its light caused the blond locks to glow, seeming like a hallo resting on the boys head. The pale skin shimmered in radiance as the moon light kissed its flawless perfection.   
  
Not for the first time Harry marveled at the otherworldly vision that Draco made. Not for the first time he felt himself be lost in the sheer beauty of his lover. The boy was truly perfection personified.   
  
Harry's eyes continued to rake across Draco's sleeping form trying to find a flaw in this boy. Surly no human being can possibly be this exquisite. After all was it not said that there was no such thing as perfection. Harry's searching eyes landed on the boys sleeping face, and he found on it the imperfection on this sleeping angel. There marring the flawless features, and resting in between elegant eyebrows, was a crease of a frown.   
  
Even in his sleep Draco looked vaguely troubled. Gone was the appearance of vulnerable innocence that would grace Draco when he was lost within his dreams. Now he looked tried as if the stress of his waking life had followed him into his sleep.   
  
Harry felt a twinge of guilt. Surly this was his fault. All of it was. Was it not? It was he who had incited this relationship. He who had taken him that night. He who had slipped the secret of the pregnancy.  
  
Harry could not help but wonder, how Draco's life would have been, had he never convinced him to give him a chance. Surly whatever lover that would have been lying beside him, would not be gazing at a troubled face. Surly the perfect vision that he was, would not be tainted by the shadows of his fears. Fears born and made a reality because of what they had had to endure.  
  
Harry closed his eyes trying to block out the fears that sprang inside of him as his guilt washed over him. He pushed away his foolish insecurities and tried to focus on the here and now. Not that it was any less troubled. To say that the past couple of days hadn't been strained would be a lie. Getting back to the comfort of before so quickly would have been unreal, but they tried. For the sake of what they had known, of what they had had they tried.   
  
When they had began this relationship they had know, know that they had to fight for this very thing that they had discovered. Yet never had it crossed either of their minds that they had to also fight their own personal demons on top of everything. The darkness of their insecurities spawned paranoia's within their minds that they could not seem to shake.  
  
Draco had not yet spoken of what had happened at the tower and Harry now knew that he could not push him. Harry felt a twinge of hurt when he realized that his lover didn't trust him enough to speak to him about what he was feeling. He understood why, but still he could not help the hurt that would work its way into his heart.   
  
He couldn't help but think that perhaps he deserved it. A punishment for destroying the security and the certainties in Draco's life.   
  
_No! _  
  
He couldn't think things like these he just couldn't. He was strong. He had to be strong. There was no room in this world for such weakness. To survive, to not get hurt, you had to be strong.   
  
The love he and Draco had was too pure, too right to keep being darkened by so much fear and pain. He wouldn't let it. By Merlin he wouldn't let it. He just couldn't.   
  
Tentatively he reached out a hand and cupped Draco's cheek. With his thumb he softly caressed away the crease of a frown that marred Draco's face. Slowly Draco's eyes began to flutter. Groggy silver eyes looked up at Harry. A silence descended between the two as they just continued to look at one another. An expression of puzzlement found it way past the sleepy daze that clouded Draco's features.   
  
"Harry?"  
  
"Yes, love."  
  
"Are you okay?" Draco asked, his voice slurred from sleep.   
  
_No. _"Yes."   
  
"What are you thinking?"  
  
_That you may really have been better off without me. _"How perfect you are." Harry whispered in answer.   
  
A small smile formed on Draco's lips. "You can't possibly be up this late thinking that."  
  
_Merlin, when am I not thinking that. _Harry gave a soft chuckle and brushed his lips against Draco's.   
  
Draco's eyes began to become more focus as he slowly become more awake and the sharp perception that Harry recognized all to well started to find its way back into Draco's eyes. Harry watched as those silver orbs studied him. As they looked into his eyes Harry could not help but think that they were gazing right into him, at the thoughts that ran in his mind and at the feelings flickering in his soul.   
  
A soft voice, lacking the slurred nature of before, asked once again. "What are you thinking?"  
  
Harry was silent for a moment contemplating his response to that question. Finally he settled for a broad reply. "Of what had happened to us."  
  
For a moment Draco just looked at him a strange look in his eyes. "You mean what happened _between_ us."

It was a statement, not a question, and its close brush with the truth surprised him.   
  
"Draco-"  
  
"Harry-"  
  
"No, Draco. I'm over that. Please don't worry about it."  
  
"I worry, Harry. I worry because I love you," Draco whispered, his luminous eyes gazing intently at him. "Look, I'm sorry."   
  
"Draco, you don't have to-"  
  
"No, Harry. I need to. I want to explain."   
  
Harry knew that look that was being turned to him. Knew that no force in this world or the next can change Draco's mind. As much as he didn't want him to do this, he knew that Draco would. Before Harry wanted to hear these words, wanted Draco to bare his soul to him, but now as he gazed into those translucent eyes he no longer wanted to hear these words. There was just too much pain and confusion in Draco's eyes. Harry just didn't want him to have to hurt any more. And this explanation would only touch on painful wounds still yet healed.   
  
"I _need _to fully explain myself. You deserve that much."   
  
Harry's words were stolen from his lips as Draco's words answered the question he had asked him at the tower.   
  
"You were right. I was being a hypocrite. I just…I just didn't know how to deal with it. I'm a Malfoy, Harry. I was raised within the notion that we can rely on no one but family. That everyone else will just disappoint you and forget you."   
  
His voice cracked and he turned away from Harry, lying on his side beside him. When he continued his voice was a breathless whisper.

"I believed that. For so long I believed that lie. Until you came along and I learned to rely on you as well, like I rely on my family. When my parents reacted like they did I-I didn't know what the hell to think any more. It hurt, Harry. Hurt like hell and I just couldn't deal with that again. If what I believed about them was wrong then what I believed about you may be wrong as well. I didn't want to risk it any more, Harry. I didn't want to hurt again so I distanced myself from you. I realized through all this that no one can hurt you…like those that love you and you love in return. And I love you, Harry. More then you can ever know. So I distanced myself, so I didn't have to hurt again."  
  
There was a deep silence between them until Draco's soft voice echoed through the room once more.   
  
"I'm sorry."

--------------------------------------------------

A silence descended between the two after Draco's words were spoken. It had taken Draco days to admit that. Taken days to admit what had been eating him inside. Days to reveal his fears and worries. Harry always did this to him. Made him feel like there was nothing he should hold back. Made him feel that there was nothing he should face alone.   
  
Draco felt a moments fear wash over him at the realization of what this boy can make him do, could make him feel.  
  
Draco had always craved for independence. Sought it like a drowning man sought air. As an only child he rarely had independence as he was the only one his parents had to look after. For a couple who had lived through the effects of these war torn days they wanted to protect their son. Both from the war and both from life. They didn't want him to have to struggle; they always sheltered him thinking that he was better protected. Now he truly loved his parents, but what they could just never seem to understand is that they could not protect him from everything and he knew all to well the realities of the world. The prejudices, the sins and the hardships. They didn't realize that by holding back so much of his independence, they were only making it harder for him.   
  
He always wanted to feel what it was like to be his own person. He wanted the independence, the liberty to live his life with him as it's master and no one to be there and watch your every more and want to know your every though.  
  
With Harry, he knew that unconsciously he had surrendered that even further. At times he struggled to gain just a part of himself, just for him. At times he struggled to gain that independence he'd always wanted. But the more he struggled the more he realized that love cared little for self. That love meant that there was never just an "I", but an "us".   
  
That realization annoyed him to no end and at times he wandered whether this sort of surrender was worth it, but as he felt Harry wrap his arms around him, his hand gently rubbing his lower abdomen and he felt Harry burry his face within his hair, he knew the answer. That this love, this feeling, was worth it all.   
  
Draco closed his eyes and a just lost himself in this feeling of closeness with the one person that could make him feel like this. That every pain, that every sacrifice was worth it as long as he was here by his side.   
  
Draco was brought out of his contemplations as he felt soft breath tickle his ear. 

"Draco, I'm sorry. I should never have pushed you. I was being selfish."  
  
The whispered words caused Draco to open his eyes and turn within Harry's embrace to face him. He let silence descend upon them as he just gazed at the emerald eyed boy before him. Even with everything that had happen to him, with all he had had face in his life; those eyes could still shine with the honesty of his true emotions. Draco had once read in a book that the eyes were the windows to the soul. As he lay here looking into Harry's eyes he understood the truth of those words.   
  
Draco felt ashamed at himself. It was he who had cause those emerald orbs to darken in guilt and sorrow. He brought up his hand and let the tips of his fingers brush across Harry's cheek and he felt a dampness there that he had not noticed before. Draco let a small smile laced with sadness grace his lips.   
  
Oh, typical Gryffindor, taking all the weight upon his shoulders. Righteous and self-sacrificing an example of his house.   
  
Typical Harry.   
  
Slowly, Draco moved forward and softly pressed his lips on Harry's own. So many times had Harry spoken to him in this position... And it was those times that he could not seem to forget the words he had uttered. Now it was his turn to borrow the imitate gesture.   
  
"Harry, you fool. Why are you blaming yourself for something that was in no way your fault?"  
  
"Draco-"  
  
Before he could continue Draco pressed a deeper kiss on Harry's lips effectively silencing him. Pulling away slightly he continued to speak directly on to Harry's lips.

"I was the one to blame. I was the one who had hurt you. I was the selfish one. I was so scared of getting hurt that I pulled away. _I _hurt _you_ because I was selfish."  
  
Pulling further away he looked fiercely into Harry's eyes. "Don't you dare blame yourself for my mistakes. I'm not worth that Potter."  
  
Harry smiled dolefully at him. "Gods, Draco. If only you could understand what you are worth. If only you knew. Then it would be only I that would be saying sorry."   
  
Draco scowled at the stupid Gryffindor and released a long suffering sigh. He knew that not matter what he said, no matter how much he yelled and raved that he was being foolish, that Harry will still hold tight to his beliefs. That was the thing with Harry he believed in his beliefs and he believed absolutely. He could never be wrong.   
  
Typical Harry.   
  
Typical Gryffindor.   
  
Yet it was well founded that stubbornness was not only a Gryffindor trait. Opening his mouth Draco readied himself to yell and rave to his git of a boyfriend.   
  
But before he could even utter a single word, warm lips captured his own. And then Draco forgot why it was he had opened his mouth in the first place. Forgot the angry thoughts he had just being thinking. And his mind went blank and only feelings dominated over his body.

--------------------------------------------------

Early morning found Draco walking swiftly through the empty corridors of Hogwarts. It was still early enough that many students were just forcing themselves to rise from their still-warm beds. While others with a free morning period tried to catch every minute of sleep that they could. On other days he would have been one of these students. He would have still been lying asleep in his lover's arms, taking advantage of their free morning period. But this was not like other days. Today was the only day he had managed to get away from Harry and his own friends with out raising suspicions. Now was his chance to do what he had needed to do.   
  
He thanked what ever god that had taken pity on him that he had woken up before Harry, at this time where the corridors were still silent and bare. He didn't want any one seeing him head to his destination. The last thing he needed was more rumors about him fly around the student body.   
  
Draco shuddered, remembering what had happened the last time rumors about him had circulated through Hogwarts. It seemed that nothing in these walls was ever left scared as rumors tended to leek outside of these walls into the world beyond. The last time it happened, he and Harry had found themselves standing in Dumbledore office in the midst of their angry parents.   
  
Draco sighed. They had though it was hard when they were keeping their relationship a secret. Hard that they were forced to creep around in the shadows just to be together and sneak small moments of affection when nobody's eyes were upon them. They had though that was hard, but never had they ever believed that this would be harder. They had spoken so many times about telling their parents about them, they had created so many scenarios of what would have become of it. Always ending with a stand of defiance by them and their parents bending to their will. Draco shook his head at how young they seemed to be back then. He now realized that perhaps they were been too idealistic. Living on fantasies and empty dreams.   
  
Now those days were gone and the day of their parents finding out about them had occur. None of the events that had taken place had turned out as they thought it would and now here Draco was with a miracle growing within him.   
  
The pregnancy.   
  
This whole thing had begun with this pregnancy and Draco knew it would end with it. This pregnancy was the complication in the whole equation. Draco's though momentarily shifted to how it would have been had there never been a child. As quick as the though had come quicker did he banish it. He felt appalled at that though, feeling suddenly dirty that that though had even found its way into his mind. He realized now how lost he would have been had this miracle not been sustaining him.   
  
This life was a part of him and he could no more live without the child then he could live without his heart. Draco felt some what strange at feeling so protective and attached to someone that he had yet to meet, but he couldn't help it. Loving this child felt more natural then anything he had every felt before. Evening loving Harry.   
  
Harry.   
  
There was the other complication in his life. The Gryffindor Prince. Draco sighed, he knew that Harry loved him, but the question was did he love him enough not to leave him when life got even harder? A part of Draco knew that he was been too paranoid, but he couldn't help it. Ever since the pregnancy his emotions had been everywhere. And then this thing with his parents had ensued. All of a sudden it seemed that all his fears and worries were no longer at the back of his mind, but floating right at the surface. All of a sudden some of his fears were no longer just manifestation in his mind, but were now a reality.   
  
Draco scowled. He was right, he had turned into a lamenting fool.   
  
Draco's scowl turned into a small smile as the thought brought forth an old memory. Soon after they had found out about his pregnancy Draco had been bemoaning how much he was going to change. Dreading how he was going to turn into a blubbering idiot. He could still remember Harry's eyes shining from suppressed mirth at his declaration, and his face turning red from the effort to hold back his laughter.   
  
Draco loved that memory. There through his amusement Harry had shown that he could never see Draco as weak. And the though of him even been a blubbering idiot was laughable. Harry believed in him. Believed that he was strong.   
  
Draco bit his bottom lip. He wished that he could prove Harry right. He hoped he really was as strong as his lover thought he was.   
  
Harry.   
  
The pregnancy.   
  
The two elements in his life that complicated everything. The two elements in his life that was his everything. Merlin how ironic life could be.   
  
_And it may become a whole lot more complicated…_  
  
Draco stood at the entrance to his destination, debating with himself whether he should enter or not. Did he really want to go in there? Did he really want to hear this? Biting his bottom lip Draco stood there battling his demons. But through the haze of all his fears he knew that he had to go in there and he had to hear what was going to be said. Regardless of how much the answer could complicate things further.   
  
Taking a deep breath he pushed the double doors open and stepped inside. He stood by the door and took a moment to look around. Trying to find the person he was had come to see. But his searching eyes found no one. Not a single person was in the room. The two rows of metal beds lay clear and empty.   
  
Deciding to search further Draco moved toward a door to the side which he knew hid an office, but before he could, the door sprang open and a woman stepped out.   
  
"Mr. Malfoy!" she shrieked. "There you are dear boy. I have been waiting forever for you. I told you last week to see me soon. I did not expect you to come back so late." 

She huffed.

"Seriously, you children. Your idea of soon is forever later. When will you realized that time is of essence?"  
  
She proceeded to scowl at the silent boy before her and pull him towards one of the beds. In a swish of motion she closed the curtain that surrounded the bed to keep them from preying eyes and ears as the curtains were charmed with silencing spells.   
  
At her order, Draco lay down on the bed. "I might as well check you up while your here. Considering how much you seem to hate this place I will probably have to fight to get you back in here again."  
  
Draco head snapped up and he glared at her. "I think not, madam. I will never endanger this pregnancy. You will be seeing a lot of me, so you better get used to me."  
  
The woman smiled. "Oh, Mr. Malfoy. You have gone to this school for six years now, by this time I'm very much used to you."  
  
"Now," she said quickly before Draco could comment. "Everything seems to be fine. _Except _the spells states that you're increasingly stressed. What have I told you about making yourself stressed?"  
  
She stood there and glared at the young boy on the bed.

"I'm sorry," he whispered looking down at his stomach, a pale hand moving to rest on his lower abdomen. "But our parents now know about everything."  
  
The woman's glare instantly melted and she looked at the small boy in pity. It didn't take a seer to know what would happen if the Potters and Malfoys ever found out about the relationship between their sons, not to mention the pregnancy. It was no secret that those two families had despised each other for generations on reasons no longer known. Now the curtain generation just hated each other; one for prejudices held against so call dark families and the other for those very prejudices that were held against them.  
  
"Draco," the women said soothingly. "You have to take all that out of your mind and let others deal with it. You have to think of yourself in this because thinking of yourself means you're thinking of what is growing in _here_." she pointed out, placing her hand on his stomach.   
  
The women suddenly straightened and placed her hand on her hips. "Leave the worrying for the one that got you pregnant. Mr. Potter can deal with all that. What else is he there for?"  
  
Draco smiled at her. He had always liked her even though he hated all the fussing she did over him. She had always made him feel better no matter what he came in here complaining about.   
  
She returned his smiled and then in a quick motion she opened the curtains. "I will show you what you came here wanting to know," she called back to him as she walked over to another door by her office.  
  
Draco's smile faded and he began to feel nervous once again. It was going to be confirmed whether what he had been told last week was correct. _Oh Merlin…_  
  
A few minutes later the women walked back out with a cauldron in her hands. She was giving him a look that was making him even more nervous. What did that look mean?_ Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit. _  
  
Reaching his bed she placed the cauldron carefully on a table at the end of his bed and closed the curtains once more. Draco sat up and crawled towards the end of the bed to gaze at the cauldrons contents.   
  
Up seeing the contents, his heart began to flutter, whether with dread or happiness, he did not know. He didn't know what to feel, or what the hell to think. When he had been told of this possibility, he had demanded that she do a more thorough test to make sure there was no mistake.   
  
"As you can see, Mr. Malfoy, the contents are red."  
  
Draco felt his breath leave him and he suddenly felt light headed. But he wasn't about to faint, of course. No. Malfoy's do not faint. That was the last thing he thought before everything went dark.

--------------------------------------------------

Draco walked back to his room where he had left Harry, a little shaky.   
  
_Oh Merlin. Oh shit. Oh fuck. Oh holy mother fucking shit!   
_  
What was he going to do!   
  
Should he tell Harry?   
  
No, he couldn't tell Harry.   
  
Not yet.   
  
It could wait.   
  
He had to get his mind around this first.   
  
Thank Merlin, Mordred, Morgan and all the greats of their kind that it was still early enough that Harry would still be sleeping. He could just sneak in and pretend that he had never left his side.   
  
_Oh Shit, this just further complicates things! _  
  
Draco's nerves were on a high and he fought to put his Malfoy mask back in place. Harry couldn't know about this until he was ready to tell him.   
  
Draco reached the portrait entrance to his prefect's room and spoke the past word.   
  
"Dragon Heart." 

Damn. His voice had wavered.   
  
Taking a deep breath Draco stepped into the portrait whole and turned towards his bedroom door.   
  
"Draco."

A voice from the sitting room couch froze him in his spot and he turned to see his boyfriend's eyes looking back at him.

"Where were you?"

* * *

Author's Note:

Hi guys!

::runs for cover::

Okay…no need for the evil death stares…And don't you even think about an unforgivable!…Well maybe a Imperius will get me to write faster…but think of Azkaban! That is an Azkaban without Sirius Black. That's a Sirius that is completely sex deprived…okay I'm loosing it. Must be the end of semester celebration party happenin' in my house. Effects are pumpin' in my system…I suddenly have an urge to write a party scene…but anyway I just came to that conclusion about Sirius. Think about it…how many years was he in prison…not like they have excursions to Kings Cross (if you live in Australia you'll know what I'm talking about…but if you don't…lets just say I did a double take when I saw the name written in a children's book when I first read HP. The things over there are not what they show in the tourist guides).

Yes, I know it has been too long since I last updated. But I swear this time I have a really good excuse. First semester has just ended and for those of you still studying you know what that means. Yes…major work deadlines and final exams. So as you can tell life had been over booked for me and it has not been any better for Allesa (my beta). Well anyway unless I finally got you the chap right…?

As for Harry in this chap…I though I would give him some insecurities. The best part of** Harry's character** (in cannon) is that he is only human. You can see that in all his insecurities, fears and mistakes. I can't write Harry without his 'hero tendencies'. I don't know…it's such a big part of him that I can't shake it. He has a tendency to blame himself for things and want to carry burdens for those he loves. I just like the effect that part of his character has on how he loves.

I know what some of you might be thinking. You already _know_ what was up with Draco. But the thing is Harry didn't really. While we can 'read' Draco's thoughts and feelings, but Harry can't. So there…I'm not repeating myself…only been fair to poor Harry. Can't keep the love sick fool (uhm…I mean person) in the dark can I? I kind of realised that Draco didn't explain much to Harry in the other chap. Harry was only coming to his own conclusions. Well say bye ::waves:: Here are the responses to your reviews I had written up. I loved them all by the way!! They gave me motivation to write which lead to making me feel guilty about not posting earlier…But anyway…Thanks!!:D

PS: Sorry about the long A/N. I can't help but blub on.

------------------

blackunicorn – I'm glad that you thought that chap was sweet. Fewww…I was a bit nervous that people will think it was too sappy. But I admit I have a soft spot for sappiness (to an extent that is) but my brain seem to keep wanting to write angst…

Sowen – :D Of course I'll sort Draco out! hehe…I love him too much to make him seem to much of a bastard in readers eyes. He is too cute! Thank you for saying that I have a good insight on people and all. I'm so happy that I'm reaching you on the concepts explored in these characters. I was afraid that people would think that these were foreign notions and only I thought that this was how the world works.

Romie – :D Thank you! Yes you got it dead on. Draco was still reeling from the shock of how his parents treated him. It's moments like those that we all have to be glad that Harry is so bloody Gryffindor and stubbornness is part of the badge.

Moonglaze – Yeah, I didn't want to drag Draco avoiding Harry. It will just piss me off and I'm sure other people. I'm glad that I made you happy by making Draco go back to Harry. I swear he belongs no where else but in Harry's arms. :D Haha…yeah your last review did make my dance. It wasn't a pretty sight according to my brother who thought I had finally lost my last grain of sanity. He clams that he's scared for life. The little bastard…

Leeanna-Marie-Malfoy – I love you! Thanks for saying that "this is one of the best HP/DM A/U fics ever". And thanks for taking the time to review. You're so nice! And gotta love the confidence boast you just gave me. =)

lonlyheart – Okay I'm glad you like this story and have taken the time to read it. Now I understand how you're getting confused with the last two chaps before 'My Armour'. I have to admit that I was afraid of that happening 'cause I can see where you're coming from. These last chapters deal so much with the actions that different emotional states can lead to. Please tell me what you're confused about and I'll sort it out for you. If you're confused about everything that has happened then tell me that too. I don't mind writing a summary. I have holidays so I actually know have the time. I actually would appreciate that you tell me because others may be confused as well and aren't saying it. Thanks for telling me! :D

Coco Malfoy2 – Coco you are officially my newest friend. Thank you for saying what you said in your review. I was having another block and then I read your review. It made me feel happy that you think I'm improving in my writing. For that I got over my laziness and started writing again. You can say I was inspired…motivated :D. Thank you for adding me to you 'author's alert' and 'favourite author's page'. I love seeing the number raise up. Makes me feel like I'm not writing this fic for nothing. Hehe…don't worry about your long P.S. I'm glad you understand. While writing fanfiction is fun, at times is can seem like an obligation. Sometimes it clashes with things happening in your life.

Aine – hehe :D…To quote you… "one word": Thanks. :D :D…extra words: I really like your review. The way you worded it in the beginning made me giggle. I think I will borrow that for future reviews ;). I'm really really glad you like my story.

inumoon3 – I'm so happy that you're still reading this. I think Draco is cute in this position. Though if he were real he would probably hex me for that comment. Then I'd be doubly hexed. Hexed by Draco and then hexed by you for updating so late…hehe. Sorry about that. I will let you hex me. I deserve it. I wouldn't dodge your spell :D.

AnnieT – I thought my face was going to be split in half by the smile that your review brought to me. Thank you for saying that I added a real depth to the characters. That was one of my main goals for this story. That's why I'm writing it the way that I am. I'm glad to see that you thought that I succeeded. I'm glad you like the fact that Lily and James are not the perfect parents. I had to force myself to put them as such as I really like them, but I felt that it was about time that common perceptions were broken and stereotypes shattered. I tend to like the notion that nothing is perfect yet even with that love can still be beautiful. Thank you for your review.

vikymama – Hehe…wow…Aren't I glad you thought that was romance. When I first started writing this fic I wasn't sure if I was capable of writing anything romantic that also had depth. I'm glad to see that you thought I had succeeded in writing some romance. I love you for your review. Gotta to say…that chap was my favourite ;). Guess you can say I'm a romantic at heart.

SilverDragon161 – I'm pleased to see that you understand Draco. I'm truly delighted that I actually managed to get the message across through all those feelings that come with it. I thought I was going to confuse everyone. Well I seem to have….but not you…so I'm happy!

stargirl2004 – hehe…thanks. I guess I like weaving sadness with romance or should I say that is just how Harry and Draco make it ;). Oh by the way…thanks for questioning me on why no body knows that the two are dating. I totally forgot about explaining that until you reminded me about it. So I remembered to put it in this chap. Thanks again!

Satori – Your not bad at reviews! You just told me that you got the reactions I wanted from people_ and_ you told me that this was a brilliant story. Trust me that makes you a great reviewer :D. As for the question on how men give birth…well to be honest I never much thought about it for this story. How it happens was never the center point in the fic. In this world that I am writing about it is as natural as their magic. Well I thought about it now and I will explain it in a later chap. I'll make a confession…when I first came across Mpreg (when you start reading slash you are bound to come across it) I started at the computer screen in shock for ages and a sound like this "EEEEWWWWW!" came out of my mouth. But I thought about the movie 'Junior', threw away the technical impossibility of it all, and smirked at how men are experiencing what women go though. I actually went though a period when I forced myself to explore the concept and read these kinds of fics. Are you in that stage? I actually now have a soft spot for Mpreg especially when it's Draco that's knocked up. He is really cute when he is hindered. Hehehe…sorry about he insanity of my twisted mind.

Lady Laffs-a-Lot – Wow I always knew that you were brilliant at reviews, but that review took the cake. Thanks for that. I put a lot of effort on making this as different as I could. I'm delighted to see that I've done it. I guess you're right about sappyness. It's good sometimes for making you smile and go giggly and stuff.

smoothNcreamy – hehe…I'm happy that you like this!! Sorry for not updating sooner. You can join **inumoon3 **in hexing me as punishment! :D

Tyrressatheart – Yeah I also hate it when people turn their backs on those that love them because their hurt in some way. It tends to hurt the people that they love as well. But hey you know…people are stupid when they're emotional. Call it a life learnt lesson. I didn't want it to last long either. That would have just frustrated me and Draco needs to be with Harry. There is just one other for him.

CuriousDreamWeaver – Thank you for saying that! I really appreciate it. I've never really written stories before…unless you count the short story I had to write for English class when I was fourteen…so I'm a bit unsure about my writing. You think that this is an interesting idea? Hehe…the idea kind of swamped me one day. I feel bad for making everyone miserable, but the fic wants to be written this way. Who am I to stand against inspiration.


	11. The Truth and the Promise

Title: You and I

Author: Mage

Rating: R

* * *

CHAPTER TEN: _The Truth and the Promise_

Draco felt his throat lock as he heard the one question that caused the feeling of acid to burn in his belly. For a moment, he could have sworn that he felt his heart stop beating.  
  
"Harry!" he said in surprise. "Ah…I…uhm…well."   
  
Shit, where the hell had his eloquence gone?   
  
"Where did you go, Draco?"  
  
Draco didn't answer straight away, his mind stumbling to come up with a response. Knowing that he had to answer swiftly, Draco quickly forced down his panic. After taking a calming breath, he finally felt his instincts kick in and his Malfoy mask slid into place.   
  
"No where. Just out for a walk," he finally said.  
  
Harry raised a dark eyebrow. "This early?"  
  
"Yes. Is that now a crime?" Draco unintentionally snapped.

He was growing annoyed, mostly at himself for coming up with such a stupid lie, and as a result, he responded a little bit harsher then he'd intended. Internally, he winced at his biting tone.  
  
_Bloody mood swing_, he thought as he struggled with his emotions, afraid that they would leek into his tone once again.  
  
He felt guilt almost break his mask as he saw a sudden flicker of hurt flash in Harry's eyes. Draco looked away, tearing his gaze away from the other boy's. Stubbornly, he swallowed that feeling that had come over him.   
  
_No, No, No…_  
  
He wasn't going to let those eyes affect him.   
  
He just couldn't.   
  
He was not ready to deal with Harry before he had had a chance to deal with this himself.   
  
Draco's thoughts helped strengthen his will and he was determined not to let Harry sway him from his intention. With those thoughts racing in his mind, he defiantly lifted his chin, raising his eyes from the floor. But when he did, his eyes slightly widened, a soft gasp escaping his lips, and the look on his face vanished. Somehow unnoticed, Harry had slithered up to him and was now standing directly in front of him.

Draco's breath hitched at Harry's sudden close proximity. He bit his lower lip as he felt the familiar fluttering of his heart and that funny feeling in his gut. Even after all this time, Harry's close presence could still make this strange buzzing feeling come over him, as if all the nerves in his body had suddenly awoken and were all in tune to this boy before him.   
  
Draco's eyes fluttered shut as he felt Harry's arms slowly encircle around him. He stumbled slightly as he tried to will his legs not to move closer to the other boy and yet those strong arms were insisting, his will somehow to weak, and he found himself nestled in a gentle embrace.   
  
"I'm sorry if I seem like I'm pushing you again, Dray. I just-I was worried when I woke up and you weren't there again…"  
  
Draco stiffened as his mind processed the meaning of Harry's words and he felt guilt engulf him. He tilted his head back to gaze up at Harry. Instantly, he realized his mistake as he found his gaze entrapped by emerald eyes. Draco cursed the existence of magic as he felt his will melt at the spell those eyes cast on him.   
  
Damn Harry for being so perfect.   
  
Damn himself for letting the hurt in those eyes affect him so.   
  
Damn the world for-for-  
  
_Just damn!   
  
Mordred! Damn love for turning me so bloody soft! _  
  
In frustration, Draco internally sighed as those thoughts and feelings raced across his mind, and he felt himself sag in tired defeat against Harry.   
  
After a moment's pause, he whispered, "The hospital wing."  
  
He had spoken so softly that he seemed not even have opened his mouth, and predictably Harry hadn't heard him.  
  
"What?" The Gryffindor asked.  
  
Draco clutched his closed eyes tighter and spoke a little louder.

"The hospital wing."   
  
It seemed to take a moment for those three words to sink into Harry's mind, but Draco knew when it finally did, as he felt Harry stiffen against him.   
  
"Why?" Harry gasped.   
  
_Here we go. _  
  
He was going to have to tell him.   
  
Yet before he could, he was startled to feel strong hands grip his upper arms and he felt himself being pushed slightly back from the comfort of Harry's embrace, as Harry's panicked questions filled the air.   
  
"What's wrong Draco?" Harry demanded, panicked emerald eyes raking across his face. "Are you hurt? Are you sick? Is it the baby?"  
  
"Harry-"  
  
"It's the baby, isn't it? Something's wrong with the pregnancy. Merlin, I knew I should have taken better care of you. You're delicate and vulnerable. I let too much strain-"  
  
"Damn it, Harry. Will you just fucking listen?" Draco snapped, as he felt annoyance come over him.  
  
In his state, he had neither the patience nor the tolerance for this.   
  
"I'm not some fragile little thing that you need to treat like crystal. For fucks sake, I can take care of myself! I'm not bloody breakable!"

--------------------------------------------------

Uh-Oh.   
  
_Mood swings. _  
  
Harry knew that he had let slip the wrong choice of words as soon as it had slipped from his mouth.   
  
"Draco, that's not-"  
  
"You don't think I'm strong enough to take care of myself? Do you?!"  
  
"No, no baby. Of course I think you are strong."  
  
"Liar! You think I'm going to make a mess of everything again?! Don't you! You-I-"  
  
Draco's last words were choked up by a sob as the pregnant teens eyes misted over with tears.   
Harry felt the familiar panic he often experienced when Draco so suddenly become emotional. At that moment, he forgot his fretting over where Draco had been. As for that moment, all his mind could process was the now quivering bottom lip of his lover, and not any of the reason that had lead the boy to this state.   
  
"Draco, please, don't cry," he desperately begged his sobbing boyfriend.   
  
"Everything is all right with the pregnancy okay! I thought you thought I was strong and can take care of myself," Draco croaked.   
  
"I do! I do! I just-I just… I just want to take care of you, Draco. Because of you're pregnant I want to do everything for you, so this doesn't have to be so hard on you. You're very weak right now."  
  
As the last words slipped out of his mouth and rang in his ears, Harry felt like smashing his head against a wall, as he again knew that was the wrong thing to say. As he saw Draco's eyes flare and the quivering lip transform into a fierce sneer, he decided that death sounded even better then that concussion. At least then, the infuriated Malfoy heir wouldn't be able to reach him.  
  
" _Weak?_ " Draco growled, his voice sounding barely above a whisper.   
  
"Dra-"  
  
"You don't think I can do anything for myself!?" Draco suddenly bellowed, cutting of Harry's words. With a fierce glare, the Slytherin push out of Harry's hold and stepped away from him.   
  
Oh shit…He had just touched a nerve. He had forgotten over the past month how independent Draco could be and how much the boy hated been considered less then he thought he was. After finding out about the pregnancy Draco had let Harry coddle him in a way that the strong and fiercely independent Slytherin would not have let him do before. And now…  
  
_Bloody mood swings._  
  
"I'm pregnant, not impaired!" The Slytherin snarled.   
  
Harry tried to think fast of a way to redeem himself in his pregnant lover's eyes. As he watched Draco's eyes flare with anger, Harry was suddenly hit with inspiration. Draco's expressive eyes had always betrayed his feelings and Harry knew from experience what would cause them to change. Feeling proud at his sudden burst of genius and feeling slightly mischievous, Harry slowly moved closer to the fuming Draco, his mind tuning out Draco's rant as he slithered towards him.  
  
"I can not _believe_ you think I'm that totally hopeless and can't take care of my self enough for our kids sake!! I can't believe that you would think that I am not fully capable of knowing how to handle myself you son of a-"   
  
Suddenly Harry pounced at the startled Draco and silenced the boy with his lips, while his arms snaked around the Slytherin's body, effectively locking him in his embrace. Draco's muffled sound of protest was lost as Harry refused to release him from the kiss. The boy's protest quickly turned into a curious, mixed sound of both anger and pleasure as Harry's wandering fingers brushed across a place in his lower regions. As Harry's fingers continued to move, a gasp escaped from the Slytherin. Harry felt heat burn within him at the sounds he had inspired from the gorgeous being in his arms and smoothly he slid his tongue past the newly parted lips.  
  
Skillfully, Harry enticed Draco's willing participation and the kiss became long and passionate, executed with a smoothness that came with practice and an expert knowledge in one's partner. Harry's lungs began to burn like the nerves in his body as air suddenly became an issue and yet he wasn't willing to release himself from this pleasure. But it seemed that Draco was having a similar problem, as the other boy suddenly tilted his head back, moving slightly away from Harry's lips. His mouth opened to gasp in air, while Harry caught his bottom lip between his teeth and took the opportunity to breath in air though his nose. Draco groaned as Harry tightened the light pressure of his teeth on his lip and this time it was the blond who swept in for the kiss.   
  
Harry's mind started to daze as Draco pressed his hips closely against his own and started to slowly move against him. Harry's mind lost itself to feeling as it always did when his exquisite lover was this close to him. He hummed at the sheer pleasure that Draco's ministrations were building in side of him. He dropped his head back in a gasp as Draco's hot tongue licked at his pulse and bit down on his skin. Suddenly, Harry felt his heart rate increase as cold fingers brushed against his flaming skin, working their way under his clothes. The nimble fingers left a tingling trail down his abs slowly working its way down to the top of his paints. The fingers moved down past his navel and reached the place above his belt buckle and stopped.   
  
It took Harry's mind many heart beats to notice that the tongue and lips were no longer working at his neck or those teasing fingers had removed it's touch. Snapping his eyes open his looked down at the smirking face of his lover who was no longer pressed against him, but was just leaning on him like one would lean against a wall.   
  
The smirk turned into a mischievous smile as those pale fingers moved up to brush against his lips. Harry closed his eyes, as the blond chuckled, knowing that he had just been had. The tables had been turned and in the end it had been the Slytherin that had played with him.   
  
Damn his hormones.   
  
His eyes opened as he felt Draco's weight leave him. The boy was now standing in front of him with his arms crossed and that infuriating smirk firmly place on his lips.

_Fucking hell!! _Harry growled in frustration, feeling numb after his body was so rudely dropped, from what he knew from experience, would have been a mind-blowing pleasure high.  
  
"I hate you," he grumbled to the smirking blond.   
  
The boy's smirk broke into a full fledged smile and he bit his lower lip. The action almost stopping the sounds of amusement from escaping from those incredibly tempting lips. Lips that should have been doing-  
  
_Damn it! Stop it!! Stop thinking that! _  
  
Upon seeing the look on his face, Draco let out the chuckle that he had been holding and teasingly kissed Harry again. Harry could not help the groan that he made as those sinful lips pressed against his own once again. At the sound, Draco out right laughed.   
  
Harry glared at him. "I really hate you," he said sulkily.   
  
Draco's laughter was dangerously coming close to giggles as he peeked up at him from the hunched position he had fallen into in all his amusement, clutching his side.   
  
Harry let out an irritated sigh and he ran his hand through his hair in annoyance, at himself, as well as Draco. Draco hadn't been classified as walking temptation for nothing and the boy was not a Serpent because he bribed the bloody hat.   
  
"You really think you can play with me Harry Potter?" said his now calm boyfriend. "Have you forgotten which one of us is a Slytherin?"  
  
Harry groaned in frustration as he moved to wind his arms around his lover's waist.   
_  
"Dray... "  
_  
Begging. He was going to resort to begging. That's it, that would make his Slytherin lover finish where they had left off. Be damned with pride he wanted those lips doing other things, instead of smirking at him. This itching desire needed to be taken care of and who better by then the sexy blond that he already had in his arms.   
  
The seductive smile that graced Draco's lips captured Harry's attention. He watched as those lips drew closer, before trapping his own in a burning kiss, that cased all thoughts to race from his mind and settle in a place bellow his belt.   
  
"Later, lover," the blond imp whispered, as he suddenly pulled slightly away. The brush of soft lips against his own causing a tickling sensation. "I'm too tried. I should get some sleep."  
  
Before his now sluggish mind could create a reply, those silky lips were pressed on his own once again. Kissing him in a way that left his body burning and that tongue working it's magic on his senses.   
  
Then, the kiss was completely broken and Harry was left leaning against the wall in a daze.   
  
Harry came down from his temporary mind lapse with a goofy smile on his lips, as his mind conjured the feeling of phantom lips against his own.   
  
He took a deep breath and willed his mind and body back to normal. Fuck, he needed a drink. Now where was that bottle of good liqueur that Draco had thrown across the room when they had found out that the Slytherin was pregnant? Harry kneeled down and looked under the coach finding the blue bottle laying there.   
  
_Thank Merlin that the bottle is charmed not to break. _  
  
It wasn't until his third swing of the azure liquid that Harry finally remembered the beginning of their conversation.   
  
Shit.   
  
The sneaky, manipulative little Slytherin had done it again.   
  
"Draco!!!" 

--------------------------------------------------

Draco tried not to stiffen and forced his eyes to stay close as he faked sleep. He had heard Harry call out to him, but he wasn't going to let himself be cornered into revealing anything. Not until he was ready. Malfoy's worked at their own schedule and moved at no one's pace.   
  
Suddenly, Draco gasped and his eyes snapped open as he felt himself being lifted off the bed. Instinctively he moved to steady him and he found his arms around Harry's neck. Draco blinked in surprise at his position cradled in Harry's arms, as the Gryffindor moved to take him out of the bedroom and into the sitting room once again.   
  
"Harry! Put me down this instant!!" Draco demanded, shooting a furious glare at his boyfriend.  
  
Harry ignored, him walking straight up to the black couch sitting before the fireplace.   
  
"Harry, I said put me-"  
  
Before Draco could finish his sentence, Harry had smoothly dropped him on the couch and proceeded to stand before his sitting form. Draco looked up at his stone faced boyfriend fiercely, defiance clearly etched into his posture.   
  
"I said I was tired. You can't go around robbing pregnant people of their well earned rest."  
  
"You don't seem very tired, Dray. If I remember correctly, you just got up from a full night's sleep."  
  
"I'm tired when I say I'm tired, Potter. And I'll talk to you when I want to, so stop bloody pushing me. You said you wouldn't do that!"  
  
At his words, Harry's expression softened, and he uncrossed his arms, ducking down to kneel before him. As their eyes leveled Harry shot Draco a pleading look.   
  
"I don't mean to push you, Draco, but when you keep things from me…" Harry sentence trailed of as he looked away.   
  
For a moment, Draco merely watched him as they sat in silence. The expression on Harry's face was so sad and lost that he began to forget his own mood, and unconsciously his personal defenses began to dwindle. He brought his hand to Harry's cheek and gently turned his face back towards him.   
  
"Harry…"  
  
"We never use to keep anything from one another, Dray," Harry said softly. "You're my best friend. There was nothing about me you didn't know. And I thought that there was nothing about you that I would never know."  
  
Draco turned away from the look in his eyes and his hand dropped from Harry's cheek. "Harry, I'm just scared to tell you right now."  
  
"Why? Is there something wrong with the baby? Dray, if there is, I want to know. Please, this is my child too."   
  
For a moment, Harry paused and after a deep breath he spoke again, softer then before. "There is never anything that you can't tell me. Nothing that I will ever hold against you, Draco Malfoy. I love you too much."   
  
For a long time, Draco was silent after Harry's words. Those words were so sincere that Draco felt his eyes sting. Yet it was what Harry whispered next, that caused a tear to slide down Draco's cheek.   
  
"If there is a burden you're carrying, then give me half."  
  
Draco finally met his eyes, a small smile dancing on his lips. "I thought I was supposed to be the poetic one."

"You inspire me."  
  
At those words, Draco blinked and for a heart beat he just looked at Harry in open awe. Suddenly, Draco wasn't scared to tell him. Suddenly, it wasn't so important that he be the first to get his mind around the news he had been told. What mattered was that they both did. Together.   
  
"I truly, really, fully love you," Draco told him as his fingers softly creased Harry's cheek.   
  
His words were whispered, just like all the words that had passed between them. For some reason it seemed important that their words were softly spoken. As if these words were only allowed for the two of them. Draco looked into Harry's eyes and he felt that usual feeling inside of him. This was one of those moments where the world seems so far, and there existed another world where there was only he and Harry.  
  
"I love you too, Dray."  
  
Draco smiled lovingly at him. He was going to tell him. He just hoped that he would react better then he himself did. His smile flattered as he remembered how he himself had reacted and he felt the familiar feeling of uncertainty washed over him. Could Harry really live up to his promises? His news would mean that their problems would double. It was hard enough to deal with what they had.   
  
"I went to see Madame Pomfrey last week. During the week when we weren't talking." Draco finally began.

Giving him a weak smile, he added, "You know, when I was being a complete dick and avoiding you."   
  
Harry took his hands within his own, his thumb drawing circles on the surface of his left hand. "Why did you need to see her, Draco?"   
  
"I had been getting sudden strange dizzy spells and I wanted to make sure that everything was all right. I know that she had told me to be really careful with this pregnancy and not to get stressed and get lots of rest. Considering everything that has happened lately, I can not seem to avoid stress and I couldn't seem to sleep properly the week we were apart. I was scared that I had done something, so I went and made sure that everything was fine. And she told me something, Harry…"   
  
"What did she say, Draco?" Harry asked, his voice wavering.   
  
Draco gently smiled at him. "I don't know if you can consider this bad, Har. But I have to admit it freaked me out a bit. When she told me last week, I demanded that she double check with a more reliable test. That's what I went and saw her about. I wanted to know the results."   
  
Draco paused and took a deep breath.   
  
"I promise you, Harry, there is nothing wrong with the children, and the tests were not for their health. According to Madame Pomfrey, they are both fine."   
  
"So what was the test for?"  
  
Draco turned an amused smirk at his slow boyfriend. "What did I just say, Potter?"  
  
Harry looked confused for a moment. "That you went and had this test ran by Madam Pomfrey and got the results from her today."  
  
"And then…" Draco pressed on.   
  
"And then you said that the children were fine."  
  
Draco flashed him a triumphant smile, but Harry just arched his eyebrow in confusion.  
  
"If the tests were not for the children, then wh-"  
  
Harry's cut himself off as his eyes suddenly widened. "Ch-Children? 'Both' ? As in two? As in more then one?"  
  
"Yes, love. More then one," Draco said, slightly exasperated. "Children is after all the plural for child is it not?"  
  
Harry looked at Draco like a fish out of water, gob smacked and wide eyed. "We're having twins?"   
  
Draco rolled his eyes in response. "_Yes love_," he replied. Then, with a small shake of his head continued. "Trust you not to do anything half way, Potter."

--------------------------------------------------

"Holy shit," Harry gasped, his eyes traveling down to his boyfriends stomach and reached a hand to where his children were resting.   
  
Children.   
  
_We're going to have two little babies, _Harry thought in awe.  
  
His eyes traveled back up to meet Draco's eyes. He was taken slightly back at the fear he saw in those familiar silver orbs. Fear shinning behind a sheen of tears, ready to fall down Draco's cheeks.   
  
"Love, why are you crying?"  
  
Draco sobbed. "Is that what you have to say about this? You hate this, don't you? Having one kid is hard enough, but _two_? It's all the trouble multiplied."  
  
Harry watched a crystal tear slid down Draco's cheek, and as his mind echoed with the fear he heard laced in those softly spoken words, he finally realized how much harder this was for Draco. Draco was pregnant. Draco was going to have a baby. He who had to go through all the ups and downs of the pregnancy while all Harry could really do was make it as easy as he could. In all truth and realities, it was Draco that would carry most of the burden. At that realization, Harry finally understood all Draco's moods. Harry wondered how he had not gone insane with all the hardships that had lately been thrown his way, or with all the fears he must be keeping inside. Not for the first time, Harry marveled at the steady strength in Draco's spirit. Here he was…pregnant, without his parents support or approval, a future uncertain, and while pregnant with a health that he had always battled with. As he gazed at the swirl of fear and insecurities reflecting in Draco's eyes, he wondered that if it was himself in this position, would he even have half his lover's strength? Strength to carry all the weight of what Harry could see in those eyes.   
  
"Gods, you're amazing Draco," Harry said, while he reached over and pulled his mystified lover onto is lap.   
  
Draco looked up at him with glassy wide eyes as the blond found himself on the ground, cradled in his arms. Harry smiled down at him and he slowly moved his head down to place a kiss on the blond's soft eye lids. Draco eyes fluttering shut as Harry drew closer.   
  
"Harry?" Draco breathed. "Wha…"  
  
"I don't hate this, Draco," Harry said, finally responding to the question that had been asked of him. "I can never hate any part of you. That includes what you're carrying."  
  
"Really?" Draco sniffed.  
  
"Yes, of course."  
  
Draco sprang at him, his arms wrapping Harry in a tight embrace.  
  
"I thought…" Draco whispered against his ear.   
  
"Why did you think I would hate this?"  
  
Draco pulled back, biting his bottom lip. "I don't know, Harry."  
  
"Do you hate this?" he asked searching those expressive silver eyes. "Is that why you thought I would hate this?"  
  
"No," Draco breathed.   
  
Harry looked closely at his boyfriend, for the first time bringing up a question that he had not dared to ask before. "Draco, do you want this pregnancy?"  
  
Harry watched Draco closely, watched as his expression turned to shocked and then fury, and then suddenly he felt his right cheek sing with pain.  
  
"Don't ever bring up such a thing," Draco snarled.   
  
Harry brought a hand up to his stinging cheek and his mind whirled, trying to catch up with the sudden event. With lighting reflex, a fuming Draco had slapped him across the face.   
  
"If you don't want to go through with this pregnancy then fuck off! I can do this on my own. I don't need you," he hissed.   
  
Harry sat in shock for a moment as his mind tried hard to keep up with Draco's moods and emotions. He finally snapped out of it as he felt Draco try to rise from his lap. Bringing his arms tighter around the boy, he refused to let him go.   
  
"Draco."  
  
The daintier boy tried to struggle out of his hold. "Let go of me!"  
  
"Draco, listen to me!" Harry snapped. "Don't make me cast a body bind on you!"  
  
Draco stopped struggling long enough to look up at him in anger and with his customary defiance.   
  
"You wouldn't," he growled.  
  
"I would if it will keep you with me," Harry answered just as fiercely.   
  
Draco finally stopped fighting him all together and just looked at him with a guarded expression veiling his eyes.   
  
"Listen to me, Malfoy. I would never decide not to go through with this pregnancy. These children are a part of me too, remember? I know what I want with this pregnancy, and it is a healthy complete outcome. I know what I want. What I'm asking you, is what you want. I want to know Draco."

Draco looked at him for a long moment, until he sighed and looked away. "You're really okay with this?"  
  
"Yes. How many times do I have to say it?"  
  
To that, Draco didn't response, and for a minute he didn't speak.  
  
"Harry…these children…I can never think of ever parting from them in anyway. And they haven't even been born yet. I love them all ready."  
  
"Then what's wrong?"  
  
"I don't know," Draco said helplessly. "I'm just so scared. All this is happening so fast. So many things are happening so quickly…I-I just can't get my mind around it. It seems that another thing happens before I could even get my mind around what happened before that. I'm just so…I don't know, Harry! Last fucking month, I was just another teenage kid just-just doing what all fucking teenager's do. All I worried about was failing classes and what the prats in this school were going to call me the next day. Everything…the future…the rest of our lives…even about our parents finding out about us…was just a distant worry. And shit! I didn't think in a million years I could get knocked up like this."   
  
Draco sighed and gnawed on his bottom lip. "I don't know, Harry. I just don't know any more."   
  
The blond held his gaze looking so lost and helpless that Harry felt his heart break in completely new and painful ways. Draco was biting his lower lip so hard that Harry was sure that it would start bleeding at the assault. Sighing, Harry ran his thumb across Draco's bottom lip, causing the boy to realize the swollen lip from his teeth's assault.  
  
He didn't know what to say to Draco. Instinctively a part of him wanted to respond with words to heal the pain in those eyes. He wanted too, but he was at a lost for words. His uncertainty would not let the words flow, as he sat there, afraid that any words he said would only have been wrong. Draco was looking at him as if he wanted Harry to make it all better, to say the right words, and when he couldn't give him what he wanted, what he needed, he felt weak in the thought that he had let down this person that had so much faith in him.   
  
As if Draco knew that Harry couldn't bring out the words he needed for his comfort, the blond tore his gaze away from him and just buried his face in the crock of his neck, sinking deeper in Harry embrace, as if trying to gather the comfort from his physical presence that he could not get from his unspoken words.   
  
"One child is hard to raise…but two…it would be even harder," Draco said, his breath ghosting across Harry's neck. "We don't have our parents support. We can't guarantee that they will be there. We're just kids, Harry…Dumbledore can't watch out for us all the time. He had done too much for us already. Merlin, Harry, I'm…"  
  
Draco didn't even have to complete his sentence, for Harry to know the word that had been left unsaid as Harry could hear the fear in his voice so clearly.   
  
Harry closed his eyes. Finally he let all reservations go, and just spoke whatever words were in his heart.   
  
"Don't ever be scared, Draco. You will never be alone. I will never let you go. Whatever happens in the future, whether it be good or bad, I will be there with you. I promise that what ever happens I will be there. We'll face it all together. You and I, we'll face it together."  
  
Draco slowly looked up at him, his eyes were still red from the tears he had previously shed, but this time his eyes were clear of mist. All those eyes contained were the weight of his emotions. Love and shock, gratification and awe. It was all there, accompanied with a stock of other emotions that Harry could not seem to place.   
  
"You promise?"  
  
"If you let me."  
  
Draco rolled his eyes and hugged him, short laughter coming from his lips.   
  
"Like anyone would ever say no to that."   
  
Then he pulled away and smiled that smile for Harry. "If you promise, then so do I."

--------------------------------------------------

Twenty minutes later Harry was walking out through the portrait whole ready to walk to his first class of the day. Down the hall he saw a swoosh of black robes turn the corner as his boyfriend quickly disappeared from view. Harry shook his head at the sight, a slight chuckle escaping his lips.  
  
When Draco had remembered that they had classes that day, and glanced at the clock on the mantle, he had thrown Harry of him at the sight of the time. The Slytherin—after his free first class—had Transfiguration the period after, while Harry had Herbology. Like so many times before Harry marveled at how someone that could look so angelic could possibly have such a dirty mouth. Draco had sworn in multiple languages and in varying creative disruptions, how he had missed close to half an hour of Transfiguration and it was all "bloody Potter's fault" for distracting him.   
  
Other's would have been more then a little ticked from been blamed for something that both parties were both blame worthy for, especially had they been interrupted from a particularly enjoyable teenage past time, but Harry knew his lover too well. When it came to classes he actually liked, Draco's Slytherin ambitious nature tended to take full dominance over his actions, and he tried extremely hard on his grades. Harry knew this of course having known the Slytherin for so very long. Of course it was this knowledge of his lover's character that inspired from him no annoyance over been blamed. It wasn't, of course, that he was distracted from the blond's words by the sight of him, half naked, running around in search for where the rest of his clothes had been flung to.   
  
Oh no, no, no, Gryffindors have a better track mind then that.   
  
As Harry's mind was slowly taken out of the haze of a really adventurous snog session, it focused on other things. Worries that had been in his mind before the feel of Draco's lips vanished most thoughts from his brain. Too many worries flashed though his mind, yet one seemed to come more often then the others. Harry was worried over the whether Draco's body could actually handle not one but two lives to sustain. From the very beginning of this pregnancy they had been told how much more difficult male pregnancies were in comparison to female pregnancy. 

The male body had to be molded and bended by magic to perform a task it was not naturally intended to do. It wasn't just the child growing within the person, but also the man's body transforming from within to accommodate the other life. One child was hard under normal circumstances, but two was double the trouble. Would have been hard on most normal male's, but of course Draco wasn't normal by any chance. Madam Pomfrey had made it no secret that Draco's body was too frail for pregnancy, and if not for the strength of his magic doing its work on holding him and the child, Draco would most likely not be able to have a normal pregnancy. That is what the old nurse had told them when they thought that there was only one child. What now of two?  
  
Harry stopped in his tracks and mulled things over. Quickly he was getting angry at the worries building within him. He had to know about this. Had to have his fear put to rest before they consumed him. Looking up, he quickly noted where he was. Then he spun on his heels and moved to see the one person who could answer his questions and hopefully quiet his worries.   
  
Fuck Herbology. It could wait.

* * *

Author's Note:

Hehe…I couldn't help teasing with the whole red potion thing. I was just going to say the news of the children in the last chap but…well I was in an weirdly happy and annoyingly teasing mood. I blame it on the end of semester high :D. Which by the way is gone and replaced by start of semester stress.

I know what you're all thinking…Is she ill? Is she dieing? Why all of a sudden the short A/N. Well I thought I'd give you a break and I'm forcing myself to shut up for once. But I just wanted to thank you reviewers for getting me pass 100 reviews!

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slasherbabe – Glad I got you interested with my little teasing with the whole red potion thingy. Ultimately whether the red potion is bad or good is up to you to decide :D. Having TWO little babies at sixteen…hehe…how cute. Thanks for reading and reviewing Mac!

non-descript-person1 – Wow…Thank you so much for saying I'm "an amazing writer" and hoping I go far. That means a lot to me! I love you! does a little swirling dance. You deserve a night with Draco for that review! I'm really happy you liked my story and thanks for leaving your word :D. If I ever do go far I'll think of you and your faith in me.

SilverDragon161 – You like all the emotional stuff? :D I'm glad! Bloody hard to write that chap and all that emotional stuff in it. I hope you like the outcome of the hospital incident. Took Draco long enough to tell him don't you think! I always believed that Draco was stubborn, but then again so is Harry…hehe…Draco will just never win against that stubborn Gryffindor will, not to mention cuteness…

Did I really spell 'Thought' as 'Though'? Allesa and I probably missed it. I'll look it over later. Thanks for tell me. I notice sometimes when I look at old chapters for references that my beta and I miss a couple of mistakes. So thanks :D.

Smoocher of Evil – Hehe :D. I love your penname!! Why can't I be that clever and think up something like that? I'm so glad you like this story! And thank you for noticing my word choice. Don't worry I notice things like that too. That's why I usually pay close attention to that in my own writing. I'm glad it's appreciated.

Jaded Winter – Thank you! :D I love you for saying that! Yeah I know…their parents are real pricks in this fic and have a tendency to believe that what they believe is right. I'll give you a little clue…If you continue reading this story you will find that many things must be taken from "certain points of view" (to quote from Star Wars). The bad guys tend not to be so clear cut and their intention can be taken either way. Good or bad. :D…thank, thank, thank for reading and reviewing.

yaoi-is-gay-13 – ducks I would never be so evil as to make Harry not be the father. mock gasp How could you even accuse me of such a thing! giggles What _ever _gave you that idea. Not the way I wrote it of course ;) :D. Hehe…I love you. You got one of the reaction that I was looking forward to! I tried to write it so that many assumptions are made. Your one was one of the one's that I had in mind and happened to be my favourite. Oh as for Lily and James…hmmm…I don't really hate them…but after the Snape pensive incident in the newest book…well lets just say that I no longer felt guilty writing Lily and James this way and I have become more open to Snape. Too be honest when I was only reading the books (not fanfictions and before the movies) my fave charters were the marauders. So I don't really hate the Potter duo. :D And yes I am very evil. I love to tease. Hehe…

anarchy-burger – rolls eyes Okay…first flammer…hmmm…what should I say to you…well…I'm not going to flip out on you and start crying (not that I've cried in years). I guess I should take into account that your review could have been worst and my first flame could have burnt me greater. shrugs No one has actually forced you to read this. I certainly haven't. If you don't like my story so much and find it boring then why did you even bother to read it? And if you could write a DRAMA/ROMANCE/Mpreg story that doesn't have sappyness and can write cliff-hangers like JK Rowling…well beep me and I'm_ sooooooo_ very sorry that I'm just not that brilliant.

CuriousDreamWeaver – gasp Now I know where I heard your name before! Are you the writer of Flip Side? That's like one of the best fics I have ever read! I've always loved elementals, but not many stories pull it of well. Your fic does! I gotta review your fic. I've been meaning to, but…arrhhh…I usually only get a minute or two on the net for FF (and it's usually posting) because I'm so busy these days. I'm glad that another great writer is actually paying attention to my work. I love it when great writers whose…works I adore…read my stuff. Anyway, anyway…sorry I got excited again…Oh yes! It does get curiouser and curiouser. And will continue till the last post :D.

oOJade-DragonOo – Wow! Thank you for saying those things! That was a wonderful confidence boost :D. I love you! I'm so sorry this post is so late and the other left you hanging. I know how that feels. I hate it when it happens in other fanfics I'm reading. Killer really. Because I did it to you…I give you permission to hex me…or kidnap my Harry or Draco for a night. Your choice because you so rock!

ISABEL – bows Thank you Isabel for taking the time to review. I'm glad you like my story and saying so! You are totally GREAT! :D

Sowen – Sowen…shakes head in awe… your brilliance doesn't fail to amaze me. You are the only one who was dead on! :D. Am I talking to a Seer here or perhaps Albus Dumbledore's great great grandchild? Hehe. And I know the ending of the last post was glare worthy. But isn't the news of not one but TWO little babies worth it? I was just going to have Harry and Draco find out the ordinary way, but then I remembered how my mum's friend reacted with the news of twins. Hehe…If I ever need a chuckle I just need to remember that moment.

Nyoka Li – Hey you! :D You changed your name. I'm glad you like that chapter. I did leave a couple of hints. I leave little hints and stuff often actually. I really wanted to make Harry and Draco human for this fic. I wanted them to have insecurities, weakness and fears that we can all relate to. I also tried to make their love convincing. Not that I'm very good on the love thing. But since this is first love…I wanted to idealise it. You know like what most first loves are like. That's why Harry seems to see Draco as some sort of god or something. He idealises him in a way, because he loves him so much. I once met this guy (old enough to know about love two times over) he told me that when your young and you love a person for the first time that you see them in this divine light. To you their beauty is flawless and they are amazing. Now I'm not saying that Draco isn't hot in this fic (because he is!) but he isn't a veela either. Ahh…okay…uhm…is anything I just said relevant to your review? I'm not sure…I got of track again…I tend to blub on a bit. Sorry about that.

Oh! I tried to e-mail you, but the bloody thing keeps failing. I tried it again. Did you get it? If not you can try e-mailing me. My e-mail's in my profile (sorry I can't write it down here, but it won't come up).

Tygrressatheart – Oh the red potion…hehe…I knew it was a good idea to put that in. Not something I originally planed. I love to shock the boys. I'm leaving the bad for later hint, hint. Yeah, the intimacy between Harry and Draco. I miss that too. Miss feeling that way. I need a Harry! Oh…the whole Sirius thing! hides under a rock. I had been thinking that for a while, but I never voiced it…then…oh shit…I was stupid enough to let them have the end of semester party at my house. Where in my tipsy state I have access to my computer files. I still remember writing that near the beginning of the night. At the time I thought it was a good idea! Please ignore me.

Lady Laffs-a-Lot – I love Madam Pomfrey too. I swear the character wrote itself. You're right. Madam P is great to work with. Much like most of the other minor characters. You can do whatever you want with them and make them have what ever character you desire. I figured that she would be fond of Draco. Much like I would like to think that she would have been fond of Remus, because they're in the hospital wing so often and she takes care of them. :D :D Thank you for thinking that this story is good enough to recommend to others. Even it you can only do it in spirit :D.

Shadow Cat17 – Hehe. Yes I'm a meanie. I'm sorry. Draco is rubbing of on me! :D. I'm sorry this took so long to update and left you hanging in such a bad way. I feel your pain. I hate it when it happens to fics I'm reading. So for your pain I give you permission to hex me, jinx me, or curse my existence. Whatever you please.

Moonglaze – The meaning of the read potion…hehe…I wouldn't have left you hanging with the meaning for too long. See here it is in the next chap. So please don't hurt me. I think I'm over hexed. chin drops Now why didn't I think of that in the first place! You are so right, my brother probably can't dance himself! I've never actually seen him dance. Hmmm…now I've got an idea for a good come back when he's teasing me :D. hehe…Thank you!

Mon2 – Mon you're quickly becoming another one of my favourite people. Thank you for giving me so much reviews. I don't mind being bombarded with them. Keep them coming! Hehe. :D You liked a nervous Dumbledore? I do too. I thought I would made him a little human. You liked the fourth post? It's "tears of a Dragon" I believe that one was. One of my favourite chapters I wrote actually. I'm glad you like it. Yeah…you can say that the Potters are snobs. Because they are living in war torn days of suspicion and betrayal they tend to be a little prejudice and suspicious. They are a product of those war torn days and experience. Oh, Remus and Sirius! I've been waiting for someone to ask me about them! Don't worry they'll make their appearance. An upcoming chapter is actually called "Uncle Moony and Godfather Padfoot". I love them to much to leave them out of it. Wow…you actually read this all in one sitting. Thank you for reading this and for your leaving a word. Luv ya!

CatJetRa – I'm so sorry I updated so late! I know I'm evil with the cliff-hanger. You know we must think alike because your suggestion was suppose to happen in this fic. My original notes had it planed, but then I changed it. I thought that too much was happening in the plot, but then your review got me thinking and I think I can fit it in. OMG!! I hope you do end up reading this update. I'm so sorry. I know what it's like to have limited internet service. And I missed you dead line. I feel really guilty now.


	12. A Little Education

Title: You and I

Author: Mage

Rating: R

* * *

CHAPTER ELEVEN: _A Little Education_

Sweeping into the hospital wing Harry looked around and was surprised not to see anybody in the room. For a school that was filled with teenage students armed with magical wands, this was a rare treat indeed, if not somewhat curious. Yet Harry didn't much care to ask why, just glad for the blessing that the hospital wing was empty of anybody that could interrupt, or worse yet, overhear the conversation that he was about to have with the one person he had skived Herbology to see.  
  
Walking briskly to the right, he approached a door that he knew lead to the school mediwitch's office and proceeded to knock on the wooden door. A woman carrying an assortment of potion bottles in her arms opened the door at his knock.  
  
"Ah, Mr. Potter," she said, stepping around him to enter the main area of the hospital wing. "What can I do for you?"  
  
"Madam Pomfrey," Harry began, as he watched the mediwitch walk over to a nearby cabinet. "I just wanted to talk to you about a few things."  
  
The mediwitch stopped her task of placing potions bottles in the cabinet and turned to face him. Her brown eyes sweep up and down his form, a curious frown on her face.

"You don't seem particularly in need of any medical treatment. And if it is advice you need, couldn't it have waited til after classes?"  
  
"No, Madam, this can not wait. This will only take a minute. I promise."  
  
Madam Pomfrey looked like she was about to protest, but then her searching eyes landed on his face and their eyes met. For a long moment, she just looked into his eyes and Harry wondered what she saw in them to make her not send him to his class, or report him to his head of house for truancy. Whatever it was, Harry didn't really care. All he cared about was when the moment ended, she granted him his request.  
  
"Very well, Mr. Potter a minute is what I'll give you. But after that you will head straight to class," she told him sternly.  
  
Harry just nodded in response.  
  
"So I take it that this is about Mr. Malfoy?" she asked.  
  
"Yes," he responded.  
  
"Lately it always seems to be," she said with a knowing look. "So, what did you want to discuss with me?"  
  
"I wanted to talk to you about the babies. I have these worries…" he told her, trailing off, not being able to voice his feelings in the empty yet still somewhat public scene.  
  
"Okay," she nodded. "Let's take a seat in my office."

Together they moved over to her office door and entered the cramped room. Harry glanced around, noting that not much had changed in the interior since the one time he had been there, during his second year. What would have been an otherwise spacious room still seemed too small because of the various things cluttered about it. The two side walls were still completely covered with over flowing bookshelves, a heavy wooden desk still stood at the center of the room, while various other tables and armchairs lay scattered around the room in a way that Harry could find no order in its setting. A large window behind the desk still framed a majestic view of the Hogwarts grounds, and bathed the room with warm sunlight. Harry looked around at the odd assortment of various furniture clattered with papers and curious ornaments, not being able to grasp how someone who kept her hospital wing so neat and orderly could have a personal space that looked like a typhoon had swept through it.  
  
After taking a seat at her desk, she gestured for Harry to sit down on one of the chairs before her. Once they were settled, she turned to Harry, beginning without further delay.  
  
"Well, go on then," she urged.  
  
Harry just sat silently for a moment trying to think of a way to voice his worries. His mind swirling with thoughts of a certain blond boy whose childhood he knew had always been peppered with illness. Looking at Draco it was easy to see the effects that his childhood had had on him. He was too small for his age and if not for the power he seemed to exceed he would seem frail, delicate and breakable.  
  
"Will Draco be able to handle this pregnancy?" he finally asked, voicing his worries into one question.  
  
Pomfrey sighed and shook her head. "I won't lie to you and give you the guarantee you seek, Mr. Potter. Male pregnancies are never easy and all together unpredictable, for they are not completely natural and lean too much on theory magic."  
  
"But other people have done it before!" Harry exclaimed.  
  
"Yes, but there are risks. Think of it this way if pregnancy can be risky for a woman – whose body is naturally build for such things – how do you think it will be for a man?"  
  
"Dangerous," Harry whispered, mostly to himself then to answer her rhetorical question.  
  
"For males, the process of pregnancy relays so much on magic. Draco is a powerful wizard. After I measured his magical resource there is no denying it. That is the reason that a boy so young can actually hold this pregnancy in the first place. Usually it is recommended that the male who has completed his normal wizarding levels, and is therefore old enough to have come into their full power, be the one that under take the pregnancy task."  
  
"But why?"  
  
"You see, with male pregnancies the time that the child is conceived is important as the magic begins to do its work. The first two weeks is the most important stage, as the magic of the person begins to work on the body to make it able for pregnancy. This is incredible magic and takes a lot on the body. That is why I'm glad you came to me so soon. All those spells I cast and potions I gave Draco was too help his body take to this pregnancy as much as possible. Added with those, I gave him extra potions to make his pregnancy much easier on him. Some of those potions I gave him…why, combined they would have been too powerful on a wizard so young, but lucky for us Draco is unique and his magic was able to take the power of the potions and hold his body for them to do their work."  
  
She paused, allowing him to take in what she was telling him. 

"The importance of this early stage in male pregnancies is the reason that signs of pregnancy come pretty much the day after conception. Thank goodness you saw the signs as Draco being ill and you managed to get that stubborn boy over here to see me."  
  
There the mediwitch halted her explanation and gave Harry a tried smile.  
  
"You see, Mr. Potter, we have done all we can. Hopefully Draco's magic will be able to hold what his body would usually not be able."  
  
Harry took a moment to let her words sink in, a slight frown playing across his features as his eyes rested on her face, yet his gaze looked right through her.  
  
"Okay," he finally spoke. "I understand that Madam Pomfrey, but how about-will he be able to hold two children?"  
  
She smiled warily at him. "I'm sure it will all be all right, Mr. Potter. In all honesty, he has been holding two lives from the beginning we just never knew it until recently. Please, try not to worry too much. Checking up on Draco's state I would say that everything is progressing normally."  
  
Harry slumped in his seat and sighed in relief. _Thank the fates_.  
  
"Mr. Potter."  
  
Harry's head snapped up and he blinked in surprise at her sudden hard tone.  
  
"I must remind you that while magic is there to help Mr. Malfoy, you must be there to help him as well. Remember that while the aspects I have explained to you differ very much from female pregnancies, there are also other aspects that are the same. Draco needs plenty of rest, must eat right and for the love of all things magical, he must not strain himself. Is that understood? I expect that as Mr. Malfoy's partner that you assist him in these aspects of the pregnancy. You will be there."

Harry looked at her, slightly stunned. Draco had always complained that she fussed about him too much, but Harry had never actually realized just how protective the old nurse was of Draco.  
  
I guess that would explain the look of death she shot me after the Trydon incident.  
  
Harry shuddered at the memory of those ugly three headed beasts they had encountered in Professor Hagrid's class during the beginning of their third year. Still enemies at the time, Harry and Draco had gotten into a bit of a fight, which resulted in Harry roughly shoving Draco. The lighter Slytherin had fallen through the magical crystal ring that prevented the creatures from getting through to the rest of the class. To say that the Trydon's had been nice to Draco would have been like saying Hagrid's dog Fluffy was sweet. Afterwards, Harry had been told to accompany Professor Hagrid and an unconscious Draco to the Hospital Wing. Harry was told to take that little detour so that the Professor himself could take him before the headmaster. To say that Madam Pomfrey was amused would be like saying that the devil was kind.  
  
Snapping out of his memories of a frighteningly infuriated mediwitch, Harry finally found his voice. "Of course I'll be there, Madam Pomfrey. I care about him."  
  
With that, the woman's hard stare morphed into a smile. "You better."

--------------------------------------------------

_Bloody pregnant body! Not good for a good run! Bloody vulnerable to damage. Damn easily strained…  
_  
Jogging through Hogwarts seemingly unending supply of long hallways, the pregnant Slytherin continually cursed everything and anything that came to mind, trying to distract his mind from the trouble he was bound to be in for missing so much of his Transfiguration class.  
  
The way from the dungeons to the North Tower that housed the Transfigurations classroom, seemed longer then it normally did, his hindered body unable to be moved at top speed. The distance now seeming to leave him out of breath in a way it never use to.  
  
Skidding to a stop before the familiar wooden door, Draco didn't even take the time to catch his breath, his mind too distracted in deciding the best excuse to use for his lateness. The aging door swung open with an audible creak, sounding louder then Draco remembered it being. The voice that had been echoing through the cavernous room halted, dousing the room into silence.  
  
Draco blinked, fighting a blush from escaping, as he found himself being stared at by every occupant in the room. As the moments passed, the Slytherin forced himself away from the urge to fidget as their eyes stayed on him. The silence in the room was broken at the sounds of footsteps. Diverting his eyes from the curious gaze of his classmates Draco looked up to find Professor McGonagall walking towards him. She stopped at the middle of the classroom gazing at his nervous form by the door. Her eyes raked up and down his form, causing Draco to suddenly become aware of his disheveled state of attire. Forcing his limbs to move with as much casual ease as he could master he reached over to pulled his slipping robe back onto his right shoulder, his other hand moving up to push his bangs out of his face.  
  
For what felt like too many minutes, the stern professor just continued to gaze at Draco with a hard expression on her face, never once uttering a word or even shifting from her stop at the center of the room. The silence was beginning to cause Draco's uneasiness to heighten, her steely gaze causing a blush to try and color his cheeks. The young Slytherin was using all his restrain and composure, brought about by his noble upbringing, to prevent the Ravenclaw's and Slytherin's that made up the class from seeing his nervousness and embarrassment.  
  
"So, you finally chose to grace us with your presence, Mr. Malfoy."  
  
Draco jumped against his will, cursing himself for showing that the sudden sound had taken him completely of guard. He glanced up at Professor McGonagall, noting how he would never have thought that it was she that had spoken if he did not recognize her voice. The women seemed not to have even twitched.  
  
"Do you have an excuse for such insolent tarty behavior, Mr. Malfoy?" she asked.  
  
Her voice while spoken so quietly still managed to echo in the room, jolting Draco to attention. "Well Professor-" Draco began.  
  
"Not that any excuse would be justified. Am I right, Malfoy?"  
  
Draco shut his mouth, choosing to keep silent at that.  
  
Well, unless we knew she is not made of stone, Draco mentally mumbled, noting the slight raise eyebrow that the woman was directing at him.  
  
"Not that an excuse is needed at this time. Am I right, Mr. Malfoy?" she shouted, making Draco jump at the sudden loudness of her voice.  
  
Then, abruptly, he stepped back, suddenly finding the professor standing directly in front of him. He blinked at her sudden movement trying to fight his instincts to move further away from her. Her behavior was unnerving, jogging a memory in his head that would not completely form.  
  
Draco's attention was snapped back to the professor as he felt his tie being slightly tugged. 

"What is this? What explanation do you have for looking like you just escaped from a brothel? Then having yourself cased by some Aurors like you were a Death Eater?"  
  
Draco's eyes snapped wide, all previous thoughts of giving no indication of his uneasiness forgotten, as the Professors words boomed in the room.  
  
"Don't even speak," she went on.

Not that Draco would have been able to in his shock.

"There can be no excuse for looking so ridiculous. Strutting into my class whenever you feel like it, looking like some common street rat. Fix yourself boy."  
  
Draco felt his hands move instantly to follow her command, his fingers moving to straighten his tie and his hands dipping down to tuck in his shirt.  
  
"Thirty points from Slytherin. One for every minute late," she snapped  
  
Draco was too shocked to even find the urge to curse her for her unfairness in the privacy of his mind.  
  
"And detention with Mr. Filch."  
  
That got Draco's mind to work again, words of protest bubbling in throat. He bit his lips to stop the words from leaking out; fearing that she would only be harsher.  
  
"Is that all right with you, Mr. Malfoy?" she asked him.  
  
Draco fought harder to keep his words to himself. Squashing the need to tell her just how all right he was with her punishment.  
  
"Yes, Professor," he bit out.  
  
"Good."

With that she spun on her heels and walked back to the front of the room.  
  
Draco blinked at her back, the image of her expression as she had turned away from him floating before his eyes. For a moment, he could have sworn that she had-  
  
_No, no, that's impossible.  
_  
"To your seat Mr. Malfoy," McGonagall's voice sounded, breaking him out of his thoughts.  
  
At that order, he quickly moved away from the door to a table near the front of the class, sinking in a seat beside a brown haired girl in Slytherin robes. He shifted in his seat, and turned his attention back to his teacher, finding her gaze still on him.  
  
"When you're done taking your time, Malfoy, we will resume the lesson."  
  
"Y-Ye-." Draco internally winced at his voice, furious at himself for letting the old woman affect him like this. Mentally shaking himself, he tried again. "Yes, Professor."  
  
At that the woman smiled, and in a snap of movement she was back to teaching her class. "Now, lets continue discussing the theory of human shape shifting…"

--------------------------------------------------

Harry stepped through the swinging doors of the hospital wing and paused, moving to lean against a near by wall. He let his head fall back as he closed his eyes. A silent whispered thanks to the fates passed his lips, as he basked in the relief that had washed over him. He felt as if the familiar weight of the worries that he had been carrying these past weeks had been lessened somewhat by the words of the mediwitch.  
  
For a moment he just stood there, tired for a reason he could not comprehend. It was as if the worries that he had come into the hospital wing carrying had kept him wide and alert and with their absence, he was reminded how tired he truly was. The heavy feeling in his body a reminder that less then half a night's rest was never good for too long.  
  
He groaned as he remembered his promise to Madam Pomfrey to head straight to class after they were done. He didn't much feel like going, so he worked his thoughts to lazily justify it as there being no point in attending the remaining minutes left in Herbology.  
  
Prying himself off the comfortable wall, he moved towards the opposite direction of the greenhouses, having no desire to be anywhere near classes.  
  
Harry had never liked Herbology, finding no point in a class that he felt he would never need in the future, regardless of how the school seemed to think otherwise. So all too often he would just miss the class all together. Hiding in the various unused rooms that Hogwarts had in abundance. And then often in the remaining moments of that time, away from the ever watchful eyes of his friends and the rest of the school, Harry would make his way to the Transfiguration corridor and hide between the darkened space of two towering stone statues.  
  
There he would wait for a familiar blond boy.  
  
Then together they would slip away through the hidden entrance found in the wall between the very statues that they stood between and enter into a moment of seclusion, leaving behind the rest of the world.  
  
Now, as if an invisible string was pulling him, Harry found himself moving towards that familiar corridor, as he had done countless times. On instinct he followed a path he had moved through so often, slipping between a familiar space between two statues depicting long dead wizards whose names he never cared to know, and he waited, ready to kidnap Draco from this spot like so many times before.  
  
He peeked around the statue as he heard the door to the near by Transfiguration classroom burst open. He watched as the familiar horde of sixth year students, dressed in either green or blue under their black Hogwarts robes, walked out of the room. Harry stifled a laugh as he watched them walk stiffly and yet swiftly, as if they were forcing themselves to not out-right run from the Transfiguration classroom. The sight, while amusing, was all too familiar these past years or so as the stern yet kind and fair Transfigurations professor seemed to have subtly morphed into a somewhat bitter and cranky old woman. If not for the fact that she treated students of all houses with the same scorn, Harry would have been inclined to label her Mrs. Snape.  
  
Harry was snapped out of his amusement as his eyes caught the glimmer of shocking blond hair at the back of the crowd of student. He smiled as he watched grey eyes roll in a gesture of exasperation at the dark haired girl talking animated to him. She only paused momentarily as a tall boy joined the two from the class of older students that had come out of the classroom beside their own. He watched as the blond drifted slightly back as the other two kept walking at a steady pace, the girl still talking all the while. The blond boy's expression reflected obvious irritation about whatever it was the girl was talking about. As the group moved closer to his hiding spot, Harry readied himself. Then as they passed, he shot out a hand and pulled the boy towards him. With a muffled password the wall behind them quietly opened, and they stumbled through the opening, a muffled swoosh reaching their ears as the wall slid back into place.

--------------------------------------------------

Draco let out an indignant squeak as he stumbled forward, saved only from an ungraceful fall by a pair of strong arms.  
  
"Harry, you total prat!" he yelled, when he was firmly on his feet again, not bothered by the volume of his voice, knowing silencing spells protected the room. 

"What the hell is wrong with you? Surprising me like that! Not to mention manhandling me, you stupid arse."  
  
Harry laughed and whispered a spell that caused the once dark room to glow with candlelight.

"Come on, Dray. I can't believe that after all this time you're still surprised by this."  
  
Draco glared.

"Maybe I'm surprised because you are actually supposed to have been in class this once," Draco growled. "Don't tell me that you really were at Herbology and just ran across the castle in a minute flat to be here. Even Gryffindor's legendary Quidditch star is not that fast."  
  
Harry flashed him a cocky smile. "That's because I never before needed to prove that I am."  
  
Draco blinked at him for moment and then through his arms in the air. "Oh of all the cocky-bloody annoying Gryffindors! And they say Slytherins are arrogant!" he yelled in exasperation.

"Bloody Hell, Potter why you even bother to be in school when you're never at classes is beyond me."

"What are you talking about? I go to my classes."  
  
Draco rolled his eyes. "Yeah right! You're hardly at Care of Magical Creatures…"  
  
"That class is a heath hazard!"  
  
"…You barely go to Herbology…"  
  
"That class is pointless!"  
  
"…And you go even less to Divinations."  
  
"Oh. Well," Harry blinked, no longer yelling. "That class is just shit."  
  
"See! My point exactly. You are never in classes and then I get dragged in to your careless, lazy, idiotic ways!"  
  
Harry frowned. "Wait, wait, wait. Why and how did telling me of about my lack of attendance in classes turn to you?"  
  
"Just ignore him, Harry." Came a male voice from the room's entrance. "He's just sore about McGonagall's punishment for being late to class and Morag's chewing down."

--------------------------------------------------

At the same time, Draco and Harry turned at the sound of the voice, spying two people by the room's entrance. Harry blinked, shortly taken off guard by the sudden appearance of the dark haired boy and girl. Through the rooms ill lighting, Harry could see the golden candlelight tinting the silver colors on their uniform into a soft gold.  
  
"Shut up, Theo," Draco snapped, glaring heatedly at one of his best friend.  
  
Theodore Nott merely leaned casually against the wall. A small, lazy smile dancing on his lips as if walking into secret, shadowy rooms and finding his best friend in a lover's quarrel with the Gryffindor Prince was an ordinary occurrence.  
  
Morag MacDougal rolled her eyes. The glow illuminating the room shooting golden highlights in her brown orbs.  
  
"Surprisingly enough the cocky bastard is actually right, Draco. So stop being such a prat," she said, shooting the blond Slytherin a glare of her own. "See this is what I've been talking about! You've acting really weird lately. All moody. One minute you're all cheery and the next you look like your owl just die! What in the hell is wr-"  
  
"Okay, okay, enough of this," Theodore interrupted, obvious exasperation breaking through his usually cool and indifferent attitude. "Mor, I think that Dray has heard enough of this. I'm sure that his memory is not faulty. He doesn't need for you to repeat yourself."  
  
Harry saw Morag's eyes flared in anger, dreading the tongue lashing that was sure to ensue as he saw her mouth open. But before she could utter a word Theodore had already rounded on Draco speaking to him in turn. 

"As for you, Dray, Morag's right. You haven't been yourself lately..."  
  
The Slytherin's words trailed of, leaving the impression of unspoken words hanging in the air. Looking at the ebony haired boy Harry could see worry shinning in Theodore's dark gaze as the he looked at Draco. A worry that Harry saw reflected in Morag's eyes as well.  
  
Watching the three, Harry felt like an outsider and an intruder. They were standing there looking at one another in silence, looking for all the world like they were having a silent conversation. As Harry watched them, he felt a twinge of envy at the obvious depth of their friendship. These three were more then friends. They were something deeper. If there was a word to define that space between friends and family then that's what they'd be. What they were. Looking at them, Harry wondered what it was like to have that. To be part of that kind of friendship.  
  
Harry felt a wash of longing and regret as he stood there watching them and wondering. Thinking of his own group of four friends, Harry wondered what could have been. He tried to pretend that he didn't know, but he was only fooling himself. He knew that what these three had his own friends had as well. Their connection was unique and different, to be sure. Different because of difference of the friendship and the individuals yet still there was the same bond seen here. It was the same bond that Harry saw with Hermione, Terry and Neville. The same bond that he was not part of, yet should have been had he not kept his friends in arms length. They often tried to include him, the four of them called each other best friends, but inside he hesitated at the reference.  
  
He felt a sense of bitterness at that reality. Lonely in his self-seclusion. Angry at his parents for turning him into this. Disappointed at himself for becoming it. A person so guarded that even those that called themselves his best friends stood behind a wall of his defenses. A wall that kept all but one away.  
  
"Harry?" A familiar voice broke through his thoughts.  
  
Harry's head snapped out of his thoughts, his mind focusing, as three pairs of eyes looked at him. He saw worry, but this time, he realized, it was directed at him.  
  
"Harry?" Draco repeated, raising a hand to his cheek. "Harry are you all right, love? I was speaking to you."  
  
Harry blinked him. "Oh…I'm sorry Dray. I drifted off there. What were you saying?"  
  
"It's not important now," Draco said, voice laced with slight worry, while those silver orbs raked across his face. "Are you sure you're okay?" Draco asked, in a voice even softer then before. "You had a really strange expression on your face."  
  
"It's not important now," Harry told him with a smile. The smile growing wider as Draco rolled his eyes for his choice of words.  
  
"Prat," the Slytherin Prince muttered.  
  
Before Harry could respond and allow them to fall into an old pattern of banter a muffled snort and snicker brought his attention back to the other two occupants of the room.  
  
"You guys are so bloody cute!" Morag snickered.  
  
"Sickeningly, really," Theodore added, his lips twitching in an effort to stop a smile.  
  
"Shut up, you two," Draco grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest, a glare distorting his elegant features.  
  
"Now, now, Dray be nice," Harry said with a chuckle, embracing him from behind.  
  
"But they called us cute!" Draco pouted, looking up at him. "Slytherins are not cute. Pink bunny rabbits are cute. Dragons are cute. Puddlemere United's Quidditch captain is cute. Baby unicorns..."  
  
Unconsciously, Harry possessively tightened his arms around Draco's waist and his emerald eyes narrowed in jealousy as he remember his old Gryffindor Quidditch captain whose professional Quidditch poster now hung at the back of Draco's bedroom door.  
  
At his actions, Draco merely flashed him a teasing smile. Then a flicker flashed in his eyes and the smile turn all too sweet.

"And emerald eyed ferrets are cute," Draco added.  
  
At his last declaration, the tiny room echoed with Theodore and Morag's laughter. Draco's statement reminding all present all to well of an unforgettable incident from their third year, that even after all these years still filled him with such embarrassment.  
  
Harry's cheeks flashed, and he glared at his Slytherin lover, who was trying to hold back sounds of amusement.  
  
"Draco Malfoy," he growled, unsuccessfully trying to force down his blush at the memory of the Slytherin Prince turning him into a ferret after a particularly heated confrontation in a crowed corridor of the school. Looking down at the reason for the traumatizing memory – now giggling quite un-Slytherin-like in his arms – Harry doubled the force of his glare.  
  
"Come on, Harry," Draco said around his giggles. "You made such an amazingly cute bouncing ferret!"  
  
At that, the Slytherin's in the room burst into tears. Finding the reminder of his and Gryffindor's shame too amusing. Releasing an exasperated sigh Harry just shook his head, griping onto Draco so the Slytherin wouldn't fall over in his amusement.  
  
Taking an exaggerated deep breath Draco calmed, flashing Harry that smile of his. After a final half hearted glare, Harry rolled his eyes at him, grumbling things about evil Slytherins that were too good at Transfiguration for the sake of the student population.  
  
"Anyway," Harry growled, hinting of a change of subject or the impact of serious consequences.

"How did the two of you know about this place, let alone get in here?" Harry asked Morag and Theodore.  
  
"Well, through our brilliance of course," Theodore said, with that familiar smug look that Harry could swear all Slytherin's had zapped into their genre codes.  
  
By now quite used to Slytherins, Harry just responded with a patient stare, not bothering to speak a word.  
  
Morag rolled her eyes, as if she thought him quiet slow and the answer to his question all too obvious. "How else do you think, Potter? We tortured the information out of Draco. You didn't think that we would never notice how he always seemed to disappear when we walked through this corridor after Transfigurations did you?"  
  
This time it was Harry who rolled his eyes at her, using the gesture to hide that that had been exactly what he had thought.  
  
"We pretty much put two and two together after Draco told us he was with you. We only had Draco confirm the existence of this place to us. Not to mention the password," Theodore added. "Don't worry about it Potter, we won't invade your love nest too often. We're only here now to save you from Draco."  
  
Harry raised an eyebrow at him and turned to face his boyfriend, who was trying to hex Theodore with the force of his glare.  
  
Theodore smiled. "From what I hear, McGonagall embarrassed him pretty badly in class."  
  
"The woman has it in for me!" Draco exclaimed.  
  
"Oh please, Dray," Morag said. "She was only telling the truth. In the state you were in you did look like you were on the run from the Aurors after being caught shagging same whore."  
  
Harry's eyes widened in shock and he glanced down at a blushing Draco.

"I did not!" the blond exclaimed.

"Well, I'm no whore, but that's beside the point…Did I just hear you right, Morag? Old McGonagall actually said that?" Harry asked quiet surprised at what he was been told.  
  
"Yeah she did," Morag told him her expression reflecting her own disbelief. "I couldn't believe it myself, but I and everybody else heard it."  
  
"I just can't believe that she ever would."  
  
"I can," Theodore said, breaking into their conversation. "That lady has changed a lot. She was a lot different when we were younger."  
  
"Yeah. Now she has it in for me," Draco put in.  
  
"_Draco_." Came Morag's exasperated voice.  
  
"She did not take thirty house points from you as well as gave you a detention with Filch on top of it!"  
  
"Draco Malfoy, I was never thirty minutes late for a lesson!"  
  
Draco pouted. "A detention with Filch. That's just evil. That man…no, no wait…that thing…is bloody crazy, creepy, weird, demented, moroni-."  
  
"Then I guess your-"  
  
"Morag, Draco, enough," Theodore snapped, glancing at his wizard watch. "We've got classes."  
  
Morag's eyes widened and she glanced at her own watch. "Shit! Come on Draco were going to be late. We've got class with Snape at the other side of the castle!" Morag exclaimed, grabbing Draco's wrist and proceeded to pull the boy to the exit.  
  
"Wait a second!" Draco yelled, pulling out of her grip. "We still have time."  
  
Not giving Morag the opportunity to protest Draco slipped back into Harry arms and swept him into a passionate kiss, his arms moving to snake around Harry's neck. So used to keeping their relationship secret and private, Harry felt somewhat awkward to be seen in this position, even if it was only by Draco's closest friends. Yet that feeling vanished, giving way to feelings more pleasurable, as Draco pressed his lithe body flash against his own and his hot tongue slipped between his lips.  
  
Breaking the kiss Harry glanced down at his flushed lover, feeling lightheaded and strangely tingly.  
  
"What was that for?" Harry breathed.  
  
Draco flashed him a cheeky smile. "For my friend's interruption. As well as giving us a moment of privacy."  
  
Harry frowned at his last statement and tore his gaze from the blond to glance around the room. Sure enough they were alone, the other two Slytherins having had retreated when he and Draco were otherwise occupied.  
  
Harry looked at his Slytherin in amazement. So used to seeing the different person that Draco was in private, he too often forgot that this boy very much thought like a Slytherin.  
  
Draco just continued to smile at him. "Killing two trolls with one hex."  
  
At that, Harry just shook his head at him, mirth dancing in his eyes. "So why may I ask did you find the need to scare your friends of?" Harry asked, using Draco's own smirk against him, his tone a mocking reflection of their noble up bringing.  
  
"Oh get your head out of the gutter, Potter! I'm not going to have a quickie with you while my friends are undoubtedly waiting outside."  
  
"Why not?" Harry pouted. All earlier shyness forgotten with the promise of what the blond could offer.  
  
Draco glared at him. "You do realize that it's that sort of attitude that got us our little predicaments," Draco said, gesturing to his belly. "Not to mention that we'll be late! I've got Snape! He hates being interrupted in a lesson by stranglers."  
  
Harry sighed. Now frustrated beyond belief after being denied release for the third time. Irritated, Harry directed a glare at his lover.  
  
Draco just looked back at him; his lips trapped between his teeth in an obvious effort to swallow the smile that was quirking his lips.  
  
"All right you. Why do you want me alone with you if not to finish where we had left of earlier?"  
  
At his question Draco quickly sobered, his amusement melting away. Harry's frustration quickly turned to fascination as he watched Draco's eyes turn a different shade of grey.  
  
"I wanted to see if you're all right? What's with the spacing out earlier? And don't tell me 'it's not important now'," Draco said, concern clearly reflected in his tone. "Harry, I think I've been selfish these past weeks. I haven't really considered how you are dealing through all this. I know I can't be the only one that's feeling the weight of everything that's happening."  
  
Harry's expression softened in the face of Draco's worry. "Draco, listen to me," he said, cupping Draco's cheek within his palm. "I don't want you worrying about me okay. I'm all right. Let me deal with everything."  
  
Harry expected Draco to protest, but after a time the other boy just sighed and nodded, looking suddenly so tried and spent. Draco's sudden fragile appearance caused a sense of productiveness to overcome him and he drew Draco into a comforting embrace.  
  
"Now enough about me. What's going on with you and your friends?"  
  
"And why should I tell you," Draco muttered against his shoulder. "You're not telling me anything."  
  
Harry held him tighter and brought his lips close to his ear. "Because you may find that a rumor about how you, the Slytherin Prince, has a poster of a Gryffindor Quidditch player behind your door."  
  
In a flash, Draco pulled away. "_Ex_ Gryffindor!" he exclaimed.  
  
"Once a Gryffindor always a Gryffindor."  
  
Draco huffed, his eyes turning into sliver slits and after a long minute, he relented. "Fine."  
  
Harry smiled victorious, use to this game that he and Draco played too often, another aspect of their old rivalry that was brought forth into their current relationship.  
  
"You heard Morag. She and Theodore have been noticing how I've been different lately. They want me to tell them what's wrong."  
  
"What are you going to tell them?"  
  
"The truth. I'll tell them everything soon. Everything but the babies. I want to keep the pregnancy a secret for now. We still haven't told the rest of your family."  
  
"The rest of my family?"  
  
"Yes. You know. Your uncles. Black and Lupin."  
  
Harry wanted to smack himself on the forehead, but refrained from doing so, with Draco there.  
  
"You forgot them, didn't you," Draco accused disapprovingly.  
  
"Of course not. I've been meaning to write them a letter to come and meet me."  
  
Draco rolled his eyes, seeing through his lie too easily. "Please, Harry, give me a break. I know you. Admit it. You so forgot to bloody tell them. Geez Potter, you are hopeless." 

Harry pouted. "Am not. I've just been too distracted lately."  
  
At that, Draco's disapproving look changed into tried smile and his lover kissed him lightly on the lips. "Okay, I'll let you of the hook this once. You actually have a good reason for being completely mindlessly hopeless. But you really should tell them really soon, Harry. If you weren't here at Hogwarts, I'm sure that they would have noticed how this drama is effecting you and know that something is up. They are your family. It is expected. Like with my friends noticing. Haven't your friends noticed anything strange about you lately?"  
  
Harry shook his head a small smile dancing on his lips, so use to that touch of naiveté that even after all that the blond boy had seen in these couple of years still lingered in him. A lingering testimony of a bright childhood and a reflection of the truth about the kind of family that Harry forever envied him for having. There were just times Draco would forget the difference in those aspects of their lives. The boy was just to use to comfort and the closeness supplied by his family and friends. Things that Harry had forgotten long ago and was now just vague memories of brighter days. Harry understood that Draco could just never understand what he had never known.  
  
At that thought, a familiar touch of envy appeared beside the wash of sadness that Harry experience at the weight of Draco's innocent question.  
  
"No. Nothing."  
  
As Draco looked at him in innocent puzzlement, Harry captured his lips in a kiss preventing the questions that he knew would come from the lips that were now otherwise occupied. His action served as a good destruction for the Slytherin's sharp mind.  
  
It was perhaps these feelings that were now bubbling in him that was one of the few things that Harry never spoke to Draco about. There was just a part of him that felt slightly embarrassed in the reality that he was a loner and another part of him that felt ashamed for feeling bitter that Draco had the kind of relationships with his family and friends that Harry himself had always craved.  
  
Harry knew that it was better to just talk to Draco and he knew that eventually he would, but right know he was not ready to face the conversation that Draco's question was bound to inchoate. It was just with that conversation he would be reminded that he didn't really have anyone but the boy in his arms. Draco would never understand that. Never understand what it was like to keep people at such a distance. Never understand how hard it was to move away from that or how hard it was to allow yourself to have friends that truly knew you and would be able to tell when something major was effecting your life. He would never understand what to him came too naturally. For Draco there was no fear, no scars, and no pain.  
  
A rational part of Harry's mind knew the foolishness of his assumptions, whispering how after all that had happened all to recently this boy may know more then he thought. But another part of him vanished that voice choosing instead to believe that this boy was still untouched and unscarred by that kind of pain and he could still protect him.  
  
"You're the only one that knows me," he whisperer, mostly to himself instead of the boy who was giving him a sad look, those eyes shinning of something knowing.  
  
Refusing to register the meaning of that look, Harry pulled his lover against him, holding him close and burying his face at the slop of neck, breathing in his sent. He let the familiar warmth of the smaller body stir emotions in him that washed away the feelings that his earlier thoughts brought.

--------------------------------------------------

Draco sighed as he felt Harry brush his lips across his neck. Yet his mind was still on his lover's actions of seconds before. He knew all to well what had been going through Harry head. In the past, during a moment of slight intoxication, they had revealed to each other how much more they had revealed to each other then anyone they had ever known. They told each other too much and the things that could not be voiced can be read. Just like Harry had told him earlier that morning there was just nothing about each other that they didn't know. If not at the moment then eventually.  
  
Draco could admit to himself that he didn't know the whole of the thoughts that Harry's mind was sporting, though he knew him enough to know that it was about his family. It always was when Harry got like this. He had been trying to think of a way to make that part of Harry's life better for him, though no ideas seemed to come. It seemed impossible now for Draco to do anything with Harry's parents. The Potters lack of love for their current situation causing too vast a gap to leap. But perhaps there was still other member of Harry's family that could give him the kind of family relationship that he needed. From what Harry had told him about Lupin and Black, they were not like his parents and it was obvious to Draco that the reason Harry was not close to them was mostly because of Harry. His lover just built too strong a wall around himself. Draco knew this, and more so then not, he was baffled that it was a wall he had never encountered too strongly, after all it was Harry who had instigated their current relationship, his efforts turning them from rivals to lovers.  
  
Draco thought that perhaps all Harry needed was a little push to allow his relationship with Lupin and Black to improve. He knew that when Harry told them about the pregnancy that the effect would be less then favorable on their account, but he hoped that the result would be better then with their parents. Draco held a small hope that it would be. Lupin had taught them in their third year and while he knew little of the man he was always fair with his students. Draco just hoped that he was the same with everything else in his life.  
  
"Harry," Draco whispered, the strange urge to whisper taking over.  
  
"Yes, love?" Harry asked, his warm breath tickling the skin on Draco's neck. Draco squirmed slightly at that, pulling away from their close contact.  
  
"Tickles?" Harry inquired with a small smile.  
  
"No."  
  
"You sure?" Harry asked with a raise of his eyebrow, bringing his fingers to brush across his neck.  
  
Draco shivered and not because the movement of Harry's fingers tickled him. Blinking Draco cleared his mind and swatted the fingers away.  
  
"Stop that! You're going to distract me," he exclaimed.  
  
"From what," Harry asked, the movement of his fingers ceasing.  
  
"From this,' Draco replied, moving to grab his abandoned bag and proceeded to pull out parchment and a quill.  
  
Again Harry's eyebrow shot up, a silent question at his action.  
  
"For your letter," Draco stated. "For Lupin and Black to meet you."  
  
Harry just blinked at him for a moment. "_Now_?"  
  
"Yes, Potter. Now. I'll even send the owl for you after my class."  
  
An amused smile formed on Harry lips and he shook his head disbelievingly. "Malfoy, you can just never let go of something for a moment when you really want it."  
  
"Of course," he stated matter-of-factly.  
  
"Unbelievable," Harry said, shaking his head once more.  
  
"Okay, give me a moment" 

With that, Harry took the writing utensils from Draco's hands and scribbled a message.

"There."  
  
"Thank you," Draco said, a big smile breaking across his features.  
  
"You're welcome." Came the amused reply.

* * *

Author's Note:

:::hangs head in shame::: I can't even remember the last time I updated, so it must really have really been a while ago. I'm really truly sorry. But my computer crashed and then my Internet server went to hell on me. I didn't have a computer for a while so I'm sorry. I give you all permission to practice your hexes on me.

Now…a lot of people asked about Draco's heath. Draco's heath will not really be a focus in this fic. It will be mentioned, but it'll be too much if I go into it. This story has too many layers as it is. I'll tell you that this fic has two plot lines. One you already have been thrown the line to and the other is a sub that will open this fic up for further sequels later on. Now I'm not saying that Draco's health will not effect the course of events later on. I'm really evil so it may…but I will not go into depth on what is wrong with him. I'll tell you that Draco is actually anaemic in this fic. Since that is a little to muggle for my taste I'm not going to mention it, but know that he is.

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yaoi-is-gay-13 – LoL! Glad you like the twins existence. I had to make their revelation Draco worthy. He is a bit of a drama queen…hehe. You love the yummy Harry/Draco-ness? I just had to put something like that in. I could so see them playing games like that with each other!

Hoshii no Hanyou Sei – I'm glad you like the babies. I'm a baby fanatic myself! And I just love twins. So cute. Oh thank god you liked Draco's mood swings! I wasn't sure how to write mood swings. Hehe…I did prolong the moment to reveal the twins didn't I? I didn't plan it…it was all Draco's doing. I try to write characters action as if they are really reacting to things naturally, not the way I want them to…and Draco…well he is stubborn little thing.

Mon2 – Hehe…yeah the two of them are kinda manipulative in their relationship aren't they? Well you know they were rivals so I just thought why not through little bits of that in. As in the twins gender…well that has been decided even before this fic had a proper plot…lets just say that there is a reason for their gender. Oh never apologise for long reviews! I love them :D.

Lady Laffs-a-Lot – Twins! Cute ha? Yeah I know…poor Drakie…two little brats running a muck…hehe. I could just see him know ::evil grin::

stargirl2004 – I know complicated ha? Hehe…the complicated things should start to loosen up a bit and answers are going to start to be given. I'm glad you think that it's tense. It's suppose to be throughout the whole fic...but sometimes I'm not sure I'm doing it right. Thanks for telling me that I am :D.

texasjeanette – I'm glad you like the angst and think it's realistic. ::Fewwww:: I'm doing it right then! Thank god. I'm so sorry this post took so long…I'm evil. Hex me.

Smoocher of Evil – Twins…I know :D :D Adorable! Oh! You got your name from Draco Vertias? I really should read that…I hear about it everywhere. It sounds great.

DemonRogue13 – :: biggest grin for you:: I'm glad you like it so far. It's my first fic and I'm glad I was original. Thanks for reviewing!! :D

Tygrressatheart – I know Harry being poetic! I just had to see it happen! LOL. You didn't really think that I would give them something bad did you? :D :::mumbles::: That'll be for later :::mumbles:::

Baby gender is classified until further notice :D. I know skipping classes is bad…but I was never caught :D ;) :D.

Moonglaze – I know that chap was pretty emotional. I had to chip the stone around my heart to write something heart felt. It jumped around a lot because of Draco's mood swings. I thought I would let his mood swings take the readers on a roller-coaster ride :D. I know I'm evil. OMG! Yeah my brother and the dancing…hehehe…one day I'll catch him dancing! :::evil grin::: I'll sneak into his birthday party and see him drank and dancing.

Leeanna-Marie-Malfoy – Yeah we can never blame Draco for anything cause he is preggers. Hehe…we'll all just pat Harry on the head and say "there, there". Slytherin comfort. I know Draco swears a lot and most likely will continue too. Well you know. They are teenagers. Thank you for saying that this is a "wonderful story that should be true"! If only love was really like this!

SilverDragon161 – You think I have a knack for getting readers to understand emotions? Why thank you!!! :D I always worry about that! I'm glad you like this chap and thanks for telling me that I stayed in character! That's what I try really hard in!

Shola – Hi to you too!! :D I'm so glad you like this fic! Hehe…I'm right there with you wanting to remove that stick from James ass (no sexual innuendos intended). I ask you will you be mad if that stick stays up there for a while longer? LOL. Thanks for your kind words. You so ROCK too!

CatJetRat – I'm glad you can get a hold of a computer to read this. I'm sorry it took so long. I actually use my school computers to read updates for fics when I can sneak away from my friends. I tried to update using the school computers, but it wouldn't bloody work. How annoying is that? Anyways thanks for reading and so sorry it took so long to get this posted.

inumoon3 – OMG I think you're going to have to hex me really bad this time… I think it took too long for me to update even more then the last time. I'm so sorry. Please forgive me! I'll give you Harry for the night (It would have been Dray, but his mood swings would have killed you).


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